HJ 


JNIVERSITY  O 


IRLF 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE   REVENUE   SYSTEM 
OF  DELAWARE   COUNTY,  PENNSYL- 
VANIA, WITH  ESPECIAL    REFER- 
ENCE TO  THE  METHODS  OF 
ASSESSMENT     AND     COL- 
LECTION OF  TAXES 


BY 


GORDON  WATKINS 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY    OF   THE    GRADUATE    SCHOOL  IN 

PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


FLANIGAN-PEABSON  Co. 

Champaign,  Illinois 

1918 


=- 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE   REVENUE   SYSTEM 
OF  DELAWARE   COUNTY,  PENNSYL- 
VANIA, WITH  ESPECIAL   REFER- 
ENCE TO  THE  METHODS  OF 
ASSESSMENT    AND     COL- 
LECTION OF  TAXES 


BY 


GORDON  WATKINS 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY   OF   THE    GRADUATE   SCHOOL  IN 

PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


FLANIGAN-PEABSON  Co. 
Champaign,  Illinois 
1918 


„•»  • 

•' 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.— INTRODUCTORY    1 

Purpose  and  scope  of  the  investigation,  1.    Sources  of  informa- 
tion, 1.     Method  of  presenting  the  information  in  this  study,  2. 
II.— THE    ASSESSORS    3 

The  election  of  assessors,  3.    The  duties  of  assessors,  3.    Time 
allowed  for  the  work  of  assessment,  4.     Compensation  of  assess- 
ors, 4.    Equipment  and  instructions  furnished  assessors,  5.     The 
Assessors'  Association,  6.     Conclusions,  7. 
III.— ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OF  REAL  ESTATE 9 

Kinds  of  property  taxed,  9.  Methods  of  assessment,  9.  Basis 
of  assessment,  11.  Inequality  in  assessment,  15.  The  tax  rate,  17. 
Assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  for  alternate  years  covering  the 
period  1906  to  1916,  19.  Property  exempt  from  taxation,  24.  Rev- 
enue receipts  from  real  estate,  31.  Conclusions,  32. 
IV.— TAXATION  OF  PERSONAL  PROPERTY 34 

Kinds  of  property  taxed  and  exempt,  34.  Method  of  assessment, 
35.  The  basis  of  assessment,  36.  The  tax  rate,  37.  Assessed 
valuation  of  all  personal  property  and  the  revenue  receipts 
from  these  sources  for  alternate  years  from  1906  to  1916,  38. 
Conclusions,  47. 
V.— MISCELLANEOUS  SOURCES  OF  REVENUE 49 

The  occupation  tax,  49.     The  dog  tax,  54.     The  poor  tax,  58. 
Other  sources  of  revenue,  59. 

VI.— RECAPITULATION  OF  THE  ASSESSED  VALUATION  OF 
PROPERTY,  AND  A  STATEMENT  OF  THE  TAX  LEVY  FOR 
THE  PERIOD  1906  TO  1916 60 

Recapitulation  of  assessed  valuation  of  property,  60.     The  tax 
levy,  61. 
VII.— THE  COLLECTION  OF  TAXES 62 

Election  of  tax  collectors,  62.    Duties  of  tax  collectors,  62.   Com- 
pensation of  tax  collectors,  63.     Operation  of  the  system  of  tax 
collection,  63.      Exonerations,  66.      The  Tax  Collectors'  Associa- 
tion, 69.    Conclusions,  70. 
VIII. — Summary    and    Conclusions 72 

Summary,  72.     Conclusions,  73. 

Bibliography   77 

Index  to  statistical  tabulations..  78 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY 

1.  Purpose  and  scope  of  the  investigation. 

In  the  following  pages  are  set  forth  the  results  of  a  study  of  the 
system  of  assessment  and  collection  of  taxes  in  Delaware  County,  Penn- 
sylvania. The  investigation  was  made  with  a  view  of  finding  out 
(1)  The  method  of  assessing  both  real  and  personal  property;  (2) 
The  exact  procedure  followed  in  the  collection  of  taxes;  (3)  The 
the  other  counties  of  the  state.  No  plan  of  reorganization  has  been 
relation  that  exists  between  the  tax  problems  of  Delaware  County  and 
proposed,  but  some  improvements  which  seem  desirable  and  necessary 
have  been  suggested.  If  it  were  possible  to  study  conditions  in  other 
counties  of  the  state,  some  general  or  even  detailed  scheme  of  reform 
might  be  outlined.  In  the  absence  of  such  information,  however,  we 
do  not  feel  that  a  suitable  remedy  can  yet  be  devised. 

In  an  investigation  of  this  kind  questions  arise  as  to  whether 
each  resident  of  the  community  is  contributing  his  just  share  to  the 
public  treasury;  whether  there  exist  inequality  and  injustice  in 
assessment,  and  whether  the  taxes  are  being  efficiently  collected. 
These  and  questions  of  a  similar  nature  we  sought  to  answer  by  a 
personal  investigation  of  the  conditions  in  Delaware  County. 

The  problem  was  approached  almost  wholly  from  the  side  of 
county  revenue,  and  our  discussion  of  taxable  property  includes  only 
that  which  is  subject  to  taxation  for  both  county  and  local1  pur- 
poses. Within  these  limits  our  specific  aim  was  to  find  out  what  is 
taxed,  and  how  well  the  machinery  of  taxation  operates.  This  study 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  amounts  and  direction  of  county  and 
local  expenditures  and  has  no  discussion  of  the  purposes  for  which 
the  revenue  is  expended. 

2.  Sources  of  information. 

*  We  gleaned  most  of  our  information  from  the  annual  assessment 
books  covering  the  period  1906  to  1916  inclusive;  the  reports  of  the 
county  controller  for  the  years  1914,  1915,  1916 ;  the  records  of  tax 
collectors,  and  some  minor  sources.  The  remainder  of  our  data  was 
secured  by  interviews  with  the  many  officials  who  are  directly  con- 

iThe  term  "local"  as  here  used  refers  to  cities,  townships,  and 
boroughs. 


2  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

nected  with  the  tax  system  of  the  county — the  controller,  the  chief 
and  assistant  clerks  in  the  county  commissioners'  office,  the  assessors 
and  the  tax  collectors.  We  found  very  little  conflict  of  opinion  on 
most  of  the  points  in  question,  and  in  almost  every  case  tangible 
evidence  supported  these  opinions. 

Much  of  the  data  relative  to  the  assessment  and  collection  of 
taxes  was  difficult  to  obtain,  because  of  the  reluctance  of  officials — 
especially  assessors  and  collectors — to  discuss  the  methods  and  re- 
sults, of  their  work.  Other  important  information  was  not  available 
as,  for  example,  definite  statistics  concerning  the  value  of  corporation 
property  exempt  from  local  taxation.  This  lack  of  information  has 
made  difficult  a  well  rounded  study  of  the  revenue  system,  especially 
in  regard  to  assessment  and  the  collection  of  taxes. 

A  great  deal  of  the  data  was  secured  under  the  promise  that 
the  names  of  those  giving  the  information  would  not  be  disclosed, 
and  for  this  reason  we  have  given  no  citation  of  authorities  for  cer- 
tain statements  and  opinions. 
3.     Method  of  presenting  the  information  in  this  study. 

In,  presenting  the  results  of  our  investigation  we  ha\e  kept  in 
mind  the  probability  that  the  information  gathered  may  be  of  some 
value  to  those  citizens  of  Delaware  County  who  are  interested  in  civic 
reform,  and  who  wish  to  know  in  particular  some  facts  regarding 
the  working  of  the  tax  machinery.  We  have  tried  to  be  very  careful 
in  restating  the  opinions  of  officials  whom  we  interviewed,  so  as  to 
give  them  the  meaning  which  originally  they  were  meant  to  convey. 

After  careful  consideration  of  the  results  of  our  investigation 
we  feel  that  the  methods  of  assessing  property  and  collecting  taxes 
in  Delaware  County  are  inefficient  and  inadequate  to  meet  the  county's 
increasing  need  of  revenue  and  that,  if  the  county's  future  revenue 
receipts  are  to  balance  its  growing  expenditures,  these  deficiencies  in 
the  financial  system  should  be  remedied.  We  have  tried  to  justify 
this  position  in  the  following  study. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  ASSESSORS 

1.  Election  of  assessors. 

The  assessors  are  elected  by  the  people  for  a  term  cf  four  years 
and  may  be  reelected  indefinitely.  There  are  no  specific  require- 
ments for  election  to  the  office  of  assessor,  and  the  primary  condition 
for  nomination  seems  to  be  that  of  good  standing  in  one  or  the  other 
political  party,  especially  that  one  which  happens  to  be  in  power 
at  the  time  of  election.  No  secret  is  made  of  the  fact  that  assessors 
are  chosen  for  their  fidelity  to  a  political  party  rather  than  for  any 
especial  fitness  for  the  office.  A  noted  politician  expressed  an  opinion 
which  is  generally  held  by  county  officials,  namely,  that  in  choosing 
assessors  no  attention  is  paid  to  their  ability  to  do  the  work,  because 
the  office  is  considered  a  compensation  to  minor  individuals  who 
render  service  to  the  party.  While  this  seems  to  be  generally  true, 
in  many  cases  very  competent  assessors  have  been  elected  to  office 
and  their  work  is  evidence  of  the  intelligence  and  care  with  which 
they  execute  their  duties. 

2.  The  duties  of  assessors. 

Upon  entering  office  the  assessors  are  required  to  take  an  oath1 
of  office,  swearing  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  fulfill  all 
the  obligations  that  pertain  to  the  office. 

The  duties  of  the  assessors  are:  (1)  To  assess  all  real  and  per- 
sonal property  at  their  actual  value — the  price  at  which  a  prop- 
erty would  sell  if  offered  at  a  public  sale,  well  advertised;  (2)  To 
assess  all  occupations  within  their  districts  according  to  the  schedule 
of  assessments  for  such  occupations;  (3)  To  assess  all  dogs  in  their 
districts,  and  collect  the  dog  tax  in  exchange  for  license  tags  which 
are  furnished  them  by  the  county  commissioners;  (4)  To  enroll  all 
able-bodied  male  citizens  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  forty- 
five  who  are  liable  to  be  enrolled  in  the  militia  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania3;  (5)  To  administer  the  oath  in  the  declarations  of  the 
value  of  personal  property;  (6)  To  serve  notice  of  the  time  for  hold- 

iThis  oath  may  be  administered  either  by  the  prothonotary  or  the 
county  judge. 

-In  each  county  in  the  State  this  enrollment  is  a  part  of  the  assessor's 
duty. 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

ing  appeals  from  dissatisfied  property  owners;  (7)  To  report  to  the 
county  commissioners  full  description  and  value  of  all  assessed  prop- 
erty within  their  districts. 

3.  Time  allowed  for  the  work  of  assessment. 

Each  assessor  is  allowed  sixty,  seventy,  or  ninety  days  in  which 
to  complete  the  work  of  assessment.  The  time  varies  with  the  size 
of  the  tax  district — the  borough,  township  or  ward,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

The  actual  work  of  assessment  begins  about  September  10th  or 
12th,  at  which  time  the  assessors  take  out  their  assessment  books. 
About  the  last  of  November  or  the  first  of  December  the  books  are 
returned  to  the  office  of  the  county  commissioners,  at  Media.  Later, 
usually  about  the  end  of  December  or  the  first  of  January,  the  as- 
sessors' books  are  again  taken  out  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the 
appeals  made  by  dissatisfied  property  owners. 

4.  Compensation  of  assessors. 

In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  assessors  are  paid  on  the  following 
scale:  In  first  class  cities,  ten  dollars  per  diem;  in  second  class 
cities,  five  dollars  per  diem;  in  townships  and  boroughs,  two  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  per  diem.3  Inasmuch  as  Chester4  is  the  only  city  in 
Delaware  County,  the  majority  of  assessors  received  two  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  a  day.  Once  in  three  years  there  takes  place  what  is 
known  as  the  Triennial  Assessment,  at  which  time  property  is  valu- 
ated  anew.  In  case  of  additions  and  other  improvements  the  prop- 
erty is  given  a  higher  valuation  which  stands  for  the  subsequent 
three  years,  provided  no  further  improvements  are  made  that  en- 
hance the  actual  value  of  the  property.  The  Triennial  Assessment 
involves  much  heavier  work  than  the  annual  assessment,  and  neces- 
sitates the  employment  of  assistant  assessors  in  the  larger  tax  dis- 
tricts. For  this  reason  the  assessors  in  first  class  or  largest  townships 
are  allowed  additional  help  of  two  assistants  who  are  paid  at  the 
same  rate  as  themselves.  The  assessor  in  any  district  may  present 
a  bill  for  payment  of  salary  on  any  or  each  day  of  the  week,  except 
Sundays  and  holidays,  during  the  period  of  assessment.  While  some 
assessors  take  advantage  of  this  privilege,  the  majority  do  not  present 

sLaws  of  Pa.,  1913,  pp.  264-65,  and  p.  559;  1907,  pp.  232-33.  In  third 
class  cities  $2.50  a  day. 

^Population  of  Chester  38,  537 — Abstract  of  Thirteenth  Census  of 
U.  S.  1910,  p.  64.  Since  then  the  population  has  grown  considerably. 


THE  ASSESSORS  5 

their  bills  until  the  assessment  is  completed  and  all  returns  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  county  commissioners. 

With  a  few  exceptions,  all  of  the  assessors  whom  we  interviewed 
are  dissatisfied  with  the  present  rate  of  pay  for  the  work  of  assessing 
property  and  collecting  the  dog  tax  in  boroughs  and  townships.  So 
general  is  this  dissatisfaction  with  the  pay  for  the  work  of  assess- 
ment, that  the  primary  aim  of  the  recently  organized  Assessors'  Asso-  . 
ciation  is  to  increase  the  compensation.  The  few  who  seek  no  increase 
in  salary  point  to  the  fact  that  the  assessors  in  most  cases  do  not 
deserve  such  an  increase,  for  much  of  the  assessment  work  is  done 
at  home  and  involves  only  a  few  hours  of  labor  each  day  during 
the  period  of  assessment.  This  is,  unfortunately,  a  true  indictment 
of  many  assessors  in  the  county,  and  for  this  reason  many  county 
officials  are  not  in  sympathy  with  this  aim  of  the  Association.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  assessors  do  their  work  very  faithfully  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  these  more  than  earn  their  compensation. 
5.  Equipment  and  instructions  furnished  assessors. 

When  the  assessors  enter  upon  their  duties  they  are  given  the 
following  equipment:  an  assessment  book,  which  is  blank;  the  mili- 
tary enrollment  blanks,  for  the  purpose  of  enrolling  all  able-bodied 
men  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  forty-five  who  are  subject 
to  enrollment  in  the  state  militia;  personal  property  blanks,  used 
for  the  declaration  of  the  value  of  personal  property;  a  copy  of  the 
classification  and  basis  of  assessment  for  occupations;  a  copy  of  the 
new  act  (1915)  relative  to  the  assessment  and  collection  of  the  dog 
tax,  which  delegates  to  the  assessor  the  additional  duty  of  collecting 
the  dog  tax.  From  time  to  time,  as  occasion  arises,  the  Eecorder  of 
Deeds  at  Media,  the  county  seat,  sends  to  each  assessor  the  records 
of  property  transfers  in  the  latter's  district  in  order  that  the  assessor 
may  know  the  latest  sale  and  valuation  of  a  property  and  assess  it 
accordingly.  Besides  the  above  equipment  the  assessors  are  given  a 
copy  of  instructions  known  as  the  "Precept  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Delaware  County  to  the  Assessors  for  the  Triennial  Assessment",  and 
a  smaller  sheet  of  instructions.  Although  the  former  copy  of  in- 
structions is  intended  especially  for  the  assessors  of  the  Triennial 
Assessment,  it  is  issued  annually  to  all  assessors.  These  instructions 
point  out  to  the  assessor  that  he  must:  (1)  assess  all  property  at  its 
true  value,  by  which  is  meant  the  price  a  property  would  bring  at 
a  public  sale  well  advertised.  This  is  stated  to  be  necessary  because 


6  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

"real  estate  is  assessed  too  low  in  Delaware  County";  (2)  after 
subscribing  to  oath  of  office,  "to  proceed  to  the  place  of  abode  of 
each  and  every  taxable  person"  residing  within  the  township  and 
district,  and  make  out  and  return  to  the  commissioners  of  Delaware 
County,  at  Media  "a  just  and  perfect  list  of  the  names  cf  all  taxable 
persons  in  the  ward,  township  or  district,  arranging  them  in  alpha- 
betical order  as  'owners  of  real  property',  'tenants',  or  'single  men', 
as  the  case  may  be " ;  and  all  property  taxable  by  law  with  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  property,  real  and  personal,  together  with  a  just  valua- 
tion of  the  same,  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  instructions; 

(3)  to  "assess  all  real  estate,  all  personal  property  and  all  dogs"; 

(4)  to  assess  all  occupations  within  the  district;    (5)   to  enroll  all 
able-bodied  male  citizens  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  forty- 
five  who  are  liable  to  be  enrolled  in  the  state  militia  by  the  laws  of 
Pennsylvania;    (6)    when  township  or  borough  lines  divide  a  tract 
of  land,  the  assessor  is  to  make  the  assessment  on  that  part  of  the 
premises  only  which  lies  within  his  own  district.5 

6.     The  Assessors'  Association. 

The  Assessors'  Association  of  Delaware  County  was  organized 
only  a  few  months  ago  and  up  to  this  time  (September  30,  1917) 
there  have  been  held  only  a  few  meetings.  As  is  the  case  with  most 
organizations  of  this  kind,  there  has  been  considerable  difficulty  in 
getting  the  members  interested  in  its  possibilities.  The  plans  and 
purposes  of  the  Association  are  as  yet  but  vaguely  and  indefinitely 
formulated.  The  most  prominent  leaders  of  the  Association,  how- 
ever, state  that  its  chief  purposes  are:  (1)  to  increase  the  efficiency 
of  the  individual  members  by  exchange  of  ideas  and  comparison  of 
methods  and  results  of  each  assessor's  work;  (2)  to  raise  the  com- 
pensation of  township  and  borough  assessors,  and  (3)  to  bring  the 
assessors  together  in  a  social  way  at  bi-weekly  or  monthly  meetings. 

Although  the  men  who  organized  the  Association  emphasize  the 
necessity  of  improving  the  efficiency  of  each  member,  we  found  that 
the  majority  of  the  assessors  believe  its  primary  objective  should  be 
to  increase  their  compensation.  It  is  due  to  this  fact  that  a  large  num- 
ber of  county  officials  are  as  yet  not  very  enthusiastic  about  the 
aims  of  the  Association.  It  should  not  be  implied  that  these  officials 

sPrecept  of  the  Commissioners  of  Delaware  County  to  Assessors  for 
the  Triennial  Assessment,  1915,  pp.  1-3. 


THE  ASSESSORS  7 

are  opposed  to  the  organization  of  the  assessors,  but  that  they  fear 
too  much  emphasis  is  being  placed  on  increased  pay  and  too  little 
on  increased  efficiency. 

7.     Conclusions. 

(1)  As  to  the  method  of  choosing  assessors.     The  chcosing  of 
assessors  for  their  allegiance  to  a  political  party  rather  than  for 
their  fitness  to  execute  the  duties  of  the  office  is  partly  responsible 
for  the  inefficiency  of  the  assessment  system  in  Delaware  County. 
This  has  become  a  fact  of  so  common  knowledge  that  everywhere  we 
went  the  same  complaint  of  inefficient  and  ill-prepared  assessors  was 
made.     There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  assessors  are  well  fitted 
for  their  work,  but  most  of  them  are  either  unprepared  or  not  inter- 
ested, holding  the  office  only  because,  as  one  assessor  stated,  it  was 
thrust  upon  them  by  the  political  machine.    This  is  one  of  the  funda- 
mental weaknesses  in  the  revenue  system  of  the  county  and  should 
be  remedied. 

(2)  As  to  qualifications  for  office.     Present  requirements  for 
election  to  the  office  of  assessor  are  inadequate.    Some  test  of  ability 
should  be  prescribed  by  law,  such  as  a  knowledge  of  real  estate  values 
and  proper  methods  of  assessment,  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  govern- 
ing the  assessment  of  property,  et  cetera.     Some  of  the  recently 
elected  assessors  frankly  stated  that  they  knew  nothing  of  real  estate 
values  and  proper  methods  of  assessment.    Under  these  conditions  it 
cannot  be  expected  that  property  will  be  assessed  accurately  or  justly. 

(3)  As  to  the  time  allowed  for  making  assessments.     Without 
a  single  exception  the  assessors  complained  of  the  brevity  of  time 
allowed  for  completing  the  work  of  assessment,  and  they  stated  that 
it  is  impossible  to  do  the  work  efficiently  in  so  short  a  period.    The 
county   controller  and  commissioners  concur  in  this  opinion.     An 
extension  of  time  for  making  the  assessments  in  the  larger  districts 
is  quite  necessary  if  slipshod  and  careless    valuations    are    to    be 
prevented. 

(4)  As  to  compensation  of  assessors.    As  stated  above,  assessors 
are  generally  dissatisfied  with  the  present  rate  of  pay  for  the  work 
of  assessment  in  boroughs  and  townships.    This  meagre  salary  ($2.50 
per  diem)  is  doubtless  responsible  for  much  of  the  inefficiency  that 
characterizes  the  assessment  system.    Many  capable  men  throughout 
the  county  cannot  afford  to  leave  a  lucrative  business  or  position  to 


8  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OP  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

assume  the  duties  of  assessor  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
a  day.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  higher  remuneration  would 
attract  more  capable  men  to  the  office  of  assessor,  and  so  result  in  a 
marked  improvement  of  the  revenue  system. 

(5)  As  to  equipment  and  instructions  furnished  assessors.     The 
instructions  given  assessors  are  fairly  complete,  otherwise  their  equip- 
ment is  very  inadequate.    They  should  be  furnished  with  land  maps 
showing  location  of  units  of  property,  a  table  of  selling  values  ob- 
tained from  the  latest  records  of  property  transfers,  and  a  filing 
system  for  recording  and  classifying  their  assessments.     A  few  en- 
terprising assessors  already  have  such  a  system  of  classification,  in- 
stalled by  themselves  and  at  their  own  expense.     The  county  might 
very  profitably  introduce  this  system  throughout    all    of    the    tax 
districts. 

(6)  As  to  the  Assessors'  Association.  As  stated  above,  the  assess- 
ors place  primary  emphasis  upon   the  possibility   of  raising  their 
compensation  through  cooperative  effort  in  the  Association.    It  would 
seem  that  they  might  better  and  more  easily  accomplish  this  by  first 
endeavoring  to  raise  the  standard  of  efficiency  of  their  group  and 
so  justify  an  increase  in  compensation.     Some  assessors  have  this 
point  of  view  and  are  already  working  toward  this  end 


CHAPTER   III 

ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OF  REAL  ESTATE 

1.  Kinds  of  property  taxed. 

Pursuant  to  the  several  acts  of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  following  real  estate  and  improvements  are  taxed  for  purposes 
of  county  revenue1:  all  real  estate,  including  all  houses,  land,  lots 
of  ground,  and  ground  rents,  mills  and  manufactories  of  all  descrip- 
tions, furnaces,  forges,  bloomeries,  distilleries,  sugar-houses,  malt- 
houses,  breweries,  tan  yards,  fisheries,  and  ferries,  wharves  and  all 
other  real  estate,  not  exempt  by  law  from  taxation.2 

2.  Methods  of  assessment. 

In  dealing  with  the  method,  or  methods,  of  assessment,  of  real 
estate,  we  touch  a  very  important  part  of  the  revenue  system  of  Dela- 
ware County.  Naturally  the  data  which  furnish  the  grounds  for  our 
conclusions  on  this  subject  were  secured  largely  from  the  assessors 
themselves,  for  it  is  they  who  are  in  a  position  to  speak  on  questions 
concerning  the  methods  used  in  assessing  real  estate. 

Every  assessor  possesses  a  great  degree  of  freedom  in  the  method 
of  assessing  realty,  and  for  this  reason  it  was  necessary  for  us  to 
interview  the  assessors  themselves  in  order  to  find  out  what  method 
or  methods  prevail.  We  sought  to  learn  (I)  whether  land  and  im- 
provements are  assessed  separately  or  jointly,  and  whether  they  are 
reported  as  separate  assessments;  (2)  what  particular  means  are  used 
in  ascertaining  the  value  of  property;  and  (3)  what  degree  of  uni- 
formity obtains  in  the  method  of  assessment. 

The  larger  number  of  assessors  whom  we  interviewed  assess  both 
land  and  improvements  together,  relying  entirely  upon  their  individ- 
ual judgments  in  determining  what  should  be  the  assessed  valuation 
of  both.  The  remainder  of  the  assessors — a  very  small  minority — 
assess  land  and  improvements  separately.  The  method  of  separating 
land  and  improvements  for  purposes  of  assessment  is  used  in  the 
city  of  Chester,  and  is  gaining  favor  throughout  the  county,  espe- 

iThe  kinds  of  property  listed  are  taxable  also  for  local — township  and 
borough— purposes,  but  we  are  concerned  with  them  here  only  as  they  fur- 
nish a  source  of  county  revenue. 

sprecept  of  the  Commissioners  of  Delaware  County  to  tbe  Assessors 
for  the  Triennial  Assessment,  1915,  p.  1. 


10  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

cially  among  those  who  are  concerned  with  and  interested  in  the  tax 
system.  An  examination  of  the  books  of  the  assessors  who  use  the 
method  of  assessing  land  and  improvements  separately  levealed  a 
remarkable  clearness  of  procedure.  Full  description  of  pioperty  is 
given  and  the  assessed  valuations  of  land  and  of  improvements  are 
listed  in  separate  columns,  thus:  land  $2,000.00;  improvements,  con- 
sisting of  house,  garage,  etc.,  $5,000.00.  Under  this  system  there 
seems  to  be  a  nearer  approach  to  accuracy  than,  where  land  and 
improvements  are  assessed  jointly.  In  one  tax  district  Ihe  predeces- 
sor of  the  present  assessor  for  fifteen  years  had  assessed  land  and 
improvements  jointly  and  all  the  property  on  the  same  street  had 
been  placed  in  the  same  class  and  assessed  at  the  same  valuation, 
regardless  of  advantages  of  location  and  the  nature  and  quality  of 
improvements.  Under  such  a  system  of  assessment  the  poor  man 
who  can  afford  a  very  humble  residence  and  few  improvements  is 
assessed  at  a  valuation  equal  to  that  of  his  wealthier  neighbor  who 
possesses  a  much  better  location  and  the  best  possible  improvements. 
In  the  case  of  the  former  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  ascertain  the  true 
value  of  the  entire  property,  while  valuation  of  the  larger  property 
is  a  more  difficult  task. 

Except  in  the  few  cases  where  land  and  improvements  are  as- 
sessed separately,  no  particular  means  is  used  and  no  extreme  care 
is  exercised  in  the  valuation  of  property.  While  many  assessors  ap- 
pear to  follow  the  assessed  valuations  fixed  by  their  predecessors, 
others  venture  their  own  judgments  and  assess  property  at  what 
they  think  it  would  bring  at  a  forced  public  sale,  which  in  the  ma- 
jority of  cases  is  believed  to  be  about  fifty  per  cent  of  the  original 
cost  of  construction,  but  frequently  amounts  to  only  twenty  per  cent. 
An  opinion  current  among  assessors  is  that  no  property  would  bring 
at  a  forced  public  sale  more  than  half  of  its  actual  value,3  and  in 
each  case  the  actual  value  is  arbitrarily  determined  according  to  the 
judgment  of  the  assessor. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  the  fact  that  due  to  the 
conditions  cited  above  there  obtains  in  Delaware  County  not  a  sem- 
blance of  uniformity  in  the  method  of  assessment.  The  method  va- 
ries with  the  individual  assessor.  Some  assess  land  and  improve- 

sBy  actual  value  here  is  meant  the  price  a  property  would  bring  at 
a  voluntary  public  sale,  well  advertised. 


ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OF  REAL  ESTATE  11 

ments  separately,  others  assess  them  jointly  and  by  means  of  careful 
classification  of  property  and  constant  observation  of  raal  estate 
transfers  in  the  community  succeed  in  doing  their  work  \ery  thor- 
oughly. On  the  other  hand,  there  are  assessors  who  are  content  to 
follow  the  assessed  valuations  made  by  their  predecessors,  making 
no  effort  at  new  valuations.  This  lack  of  uniformity  has  led  to  wide- 
spread injustice  and  inequality,  as  will  be  shown  later  in  the  present 
chapter. 

3.     Basis  of  assessment.4 

(1)  Percentage  basis  of  assessment  used  by  the  assessors.  Le- 
gally, all  property  should  be  assessed  at  its  true  value,  which  is  inter- 
preted as  the  price  that  such  property  would  bring  at  a  -voluntary 
public  sale,  well  advertised.  In  practice,  however,  this  rule  does  not 
always  hold  good.  At  this  point  in  our  investigation  we  interviewed 
personally  the  assessors  in  each  of  fourteen  representative  tax  dis- 
tricts of  the  county,  and  in  every  case  received  a  statement  of  the 
percentage  basis  which  the  assessor  uses  in  making  his  valuations. 
These  statements  were  verified  by  examining  assessments  and  real 
estate  transfers  in  the  district,  and  by  interviewing  persons  other 
than  assessors  who  were  acquainted  with  the  assessors'  valuations. 
The  results  of  the  interviews  with  assessors  are  given  in  the  table 
below. 


term  "basis  of  assessment"  as  here  used  refers  to  the  percentage 
of  selling  value  at  which  property  is  assessed.  The  percentage  basis  re- 
quired by  law  is  100%  or  the  actual  value  of  the  property,  i.  e.  the  price  it 
would  bring  at  a  public  sale  well  advertised.  Assessors,  however,  set  an 
arbitrary  percentage  of  their  own  which  varies  with  the  individual  assessor. 


12  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

Table  I. — Showing  at  what  percentage  of  its  selling  value  prop- 
erty is  assessed  in  fourteen  representative  tax  districts.5 

Name  of  Assessor  Tax  District  Percentage  Basis  Used6 

A  1  50%  to  60% 

B  2  50%  to  70% 

C  3  70% 

D  4  50%  to  60% 

E  5  60% 

F  6  60%  to  70% 

•G  7  70% 

-H  8  50% 

I  9  70% 

J  10  60%  to  70% 

X  11  60%  to  70% 

X.  12  70% 

M  13  70% 

N  14  50%  to  60% 

Assessors  arbitrarily  determine  what  is  the  selling  value  of  prop- 
erty and  then  proceed  to  make  what  seems  to  them  a  fair  assessment 
on  the  percentage  basis  which  they  are  accustomed  to  use.  The  fol- 
lowing are  some  of  the  examples  which  assessors  pointed  out: 

Selling  Value  of 

Property  Assessment 

$2,000  $1,200 

3,000  1,500 

1,800  1,000 

1,000  500 

2,500  1,200 

2,000  1,000 

1,000  500 

5,000  2,500 

6,000  3,500 


^Because  the  information  here  presented  was  received  under  promise 
•of  confidence,  the  names  of  assessors  and  tax  districts  are  not  given,  letters 
and  figures  being  substituted  for  them  respectively. 

«Where  more  than  one  percentage  is  given  it  indicates  that  the 
assessor  does  not  know  exactly  what  percentage  basis  he  uses,  therefore 
gave  the  writer  an  indefinite  statement,  as  for  example,  in  District  1, 
50%-60%.  Percentages  in  all  cases  apply  to  realty,  whether  improved  or 
unimproved. 


ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION   OF   REAL  ESTATE  13 

Precaution  must  be  taken  in  drawing  conclusions  from  Table  I. 
Many  assessors  do  not  hesitate  to  state  that  they  believe  much  prop- 
erty is  assessed  as  low  as  18%  and  20 %  in  districts  other  than  their 
own.  This  is  also  the  opinion  of  many  other  persons  whom  we  inter- 
viewed, and  many  cases  can  be  cited  to  substantiate  these  statements. 
Even  where  assessors  claim  to  assess  at  from  70%  to  100%  of  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  selling  value  of  property,  an  examination  of 
their  assessments  showed  they  actually  assessed  at  not  higher  than 
50%.  For  example,  in  district  No.  3,  where  the  assessor  claims  to 
assess  at  70%  of  the  selling  value  of  property,  a  piece  of  realty 
which  was  recently  sold  at  $50,000  is  assessed  at  $24,000,  or  approxi- 
mately 50%  .7 

From  Table  I  it  is  seen  (a)  that  in  fifty  per  cent  of  the  districts 
studied  the  assessments  are  made  on  an  indefinite  basis,  ranging 
from  50%  to  70%  ;  (b)  that  if  we  take  the  lowest  percentages  claimed 
to  be  used  by  assessors,  the  average  basis  of  assessment  is  60%,  and  if 
we  take  the  highest  percentage  basis  claimed,  the  average  basis  is 
65%. 

In  order  to  ascertain  whether  assessors  actually  assess  property  at 
the  percentages  to  which  they  make  claim  in  the  above  table  (Table  I), 
we  examined  the  assessment  books  to  find  out  assessments  of  specific 
pieces  of  property  in  various  districts,  and  compared  these  with  the 
selling  values  set  by  the  owners  of  such  property.  The  results  are 
incorporated  in  the  following  table: 

7 For  additional  illustrations  of  this  fact  see  Table  II,  page  14. 


14 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


Table  II.  Showing  the  selling  value  of  certain  selected  parcels 
of  real  estate,  the  assessed  value  of  the  same  property,  and  a  compari- 
son of  the  basis  of  assessment  actually  used  with  those  which  assessors 
claim  to  follow. 


Aggregate  Selling 

Total  Assessed 

Percentage  Basis 

Percentage  Basis 

Value  of  Property 

Value  of  Same 

Said  to  be 

Actually 

Examined 

Property 

Used 

Used 

$12,300 

$  8,000 

50%  to  60% 

65% 

17,000 

10,500 

50%  to  70% 

61% 

50,000 

25,000 

70% 

50% 

10,000 

4,000 

50%  to  60% 

40% 

30,400 

10,000 

60% 

32% 

15,000 

7,300 

60%  to  70% 

48% 

12,000 

10,000 

70% 

83% 

10,600 

5,300 

50% 

50% 

12,000 

5,000 

70% 

41% 

20,000 

8,000 

60%  to  70% 

40% 

14,000 

6,000 

60%  to  70% 

42% 

16,000 

7,500 

70% 

46% 

17,000 

8,200 

70% 

48% 

12,500 

6,100 

70% 

48% 

It  will  be  observed  that  (1)  In  seventy-eight  per  cent  of  the 
cases  selected  the  actual  assessment  basis  is  lower  than  the  percentage 
basis  which  assessors  claim  to  follow;  that  in  only  one  case  is  it  the 
same,  and  in  only  two  is  it  above;  (2)  The  average  actual  percentage 
basis  of  assessment  is  forty-nine  per  cent  of  the  selling  value  of 
property;  (3)  That  if  we  take  the  highest  average  percentage  basis 
claimed  by  assessors,  which  is  65.4%,  the  average  actual -assessment 
is  16.7%  less  than  it,  and  if  we  take  the  lowest  average  percentage 
basis  claimed  to  be  used,  the  average  percentage  basis  actually  used 
is  11%  less. 

The  foregoing  statistics  (in  Tables  I  and  II)  clearly  show  that 
there  obtains  no  uniformity  in  the  percentage  basis  of  assessment, 
but  that  the  general  tendency  is1  toward  a  basis  ranging  from  60% 
to  70%  of  the  value  which  the  assessors  think  a  property  would  bring 
at  a  voluntary  public  sale,  well  advertised.  In  a  few  cases  the  as- 


ASSESSMENT   AND  TAXATION   OF  REAL   ESTATE  15 

sessors  take  as  their  basis  of  valuation  what  they  believe  the  property 
would  bring  at  a  forced  sale,  i.  e.  a  sale  for  mortgage  or  tax  lien. 
Although  the  latter  class  of  assessors  are  only  few  in  number  they 
defend  their  method  as  a  just  one,  and  contend  that  no  property 
should  be  assessed  at  more  than  it  would  bring  at  a  compulsory  pub- 
lic sale,  for  at  such  a  sale  no  property  ever  sells  for  more  than  fifty 
per  cent  of  the  price  it  would  bring  at  a  voluntary  sale.  For  us  at 
least,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the  logic  of  this  position,  for  forced 
sales  are  the  exception  not  the  rule,  and  as  such  should  not  be  the 
standard  of  assessment  for  all  property. 
4.  Inequality  in  assessments. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  lack  of  intelligent  procedure  in  the 
method  of  assessment  in  the  various  tax  districts,  and  the  conspicuous 
absence  of  a  uniform  percentage  basis  of  assessing  property  through- 
out the  county,  there  is  prevalent  a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  with 
property  valuations.  Not  only  is  this  true  as  between  the  different 
tax  districts,  but  equally  true  as  between  property  owners  within 
the  same  district  for,  as  shown  above,  very  few  assessors  have  a  defi- 
nite percentage  basis  of  assessment.  Many  cases  of  inequality  in 
assessment  were  found  throughout  the  county,  among  which  the  fol- 
lowing are  notable:8 

sExamples  cited  in  the  table  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  that  were 
collected  from  the  several  districts.  Properties  compared  in  each  example 
are  situated  close  to  each  other. 

These  cases  were  cited  by  assessors  who  wished  to  show  the  defects 
of  their  predecessors'  assessments.  They  plan  to  correct  the  inequalities 
as  soon  as  possible.  Selling  values  cited  were  estimated  by  assessors. 


16  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OP  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

Table  III.     Showing  Inequalities  in  Assessments/ 


No.  of 
Exam- 
ple 

Dimensions 
of 
Real  Estate 

Description 
of 
Improvements 

Total 
Selling 
Value 

Total 
Assessed 
Value 

1 

/A—     20x150 
\  B  —     50  x  150 

Small  house  
Large  house,  etc..  . 

$2,750 
5,000 

$1,600 
1,500 

2 

/  C—     25  x  100 
\  D  —  300  x  600 

Small  house  
Very  large  house,  etc.  .    . 

3,000 
70,000 

2,500 
30,000 

/  E—     60  x  200 

Factory  building  

10,000 

100 

3 

^  F_     60  x  275 

Mill  building  

10,000 

3,000 

J  G  —    20  x    50 

Small  house 

2,700 

1,600 

4 

\  H—    50  x    75 

Mod.  large  house.  

5,000 

1,500 

J  I  —      70  x  110 

Two  small  houses  . 

6,000 

2,900 

5 
6 

\J—      25  x    60 

/K—    25  x    75 
\  L  —     25  x    80 

Small  house  

Mod.  sized  house  
Mod.  sized  house 

3,000 

3,000 
3,000 

2,500 

1,200 
1,700 

7 

/M—    20x140 
\  N  —  300  x  468 

No  improvements  
No  improvements 

3,000 
3,000 

8 

/O—     50  x    90 

\P—     40  x    80 

f  Q  25  x    50 

Small  hotel  
Small  drug  store  

Small  house 

3,000 
1,600 

1,800 

1,000 
2,000 

1,200 

9 

\  R  30  x    60 

Mod.  sized  house 

2,500 

900 

10 

/S—     40  x    70 
\T—     20  x    45 

J  U  —     50  x    75 

Mod.  sized  house  
Very  small  house  

Mod.  sized  house.   . 

3,000 
1,000 

5,000 

1,200 
800 

2,000 

11 

^  V  35  x    60 

Small  house 

2,500 

1  800 

/  \v  —    25  x    50 

Small  house  

1,500 

800 

12 

^  X  30  x    55 

Small  house  

1,800 

900 

ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION   OP  REAL  ESTATE  17 

The  above  cases  were  selected  from  a  great  number  which  were 
called  to  our  attention  in  the  several  tax  districts.  In  each  example 
cited  the  properties  compared  are  situated  near  each  other.  It  is 
clear  that  inequality  in  assessment  is  not  a  condition  peculiar  to  one 
but  to  the  several  localities.  Dissatisfied  property  owners  who  be- 
lieve their  assessments  too  high  may  appeal  to  the  Board  of  Equali- 
zation— the  Commissioners  of  Delaware  County.  In  most  of  the  cases 
that  came  under  our  observation  we  found  no  trace  of  appeal  be- 
cause of  over-assessment,  even  where  inequality  was  apparent.  The 
only  explanation  for  this  is  that  the  owners  of  such  property  either 
did  not  know  they  were  over-assessed  or  that,  knowing  their  own 
property  to  be  assessed  much  below  its  real  value,  feared  to  complain 
against  their  neighbor's  assessment  lest  their  own  be  raised. 

What  are  the  causes  of  this  prevailing  inequality  in  assessments  ? 
Careful  observation  of  conditions  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  these 
causes  are  :  (1)  Favoritism,  which  induces  assessors  to  assess  the 
property  of  their  friends  at  a  lower  valuation  than  that  of  other 
persons;  (2)  Inability  of  assessors  to  make  correct  valuation  of  large 
property.  Small  property  is  much  more  easily  assessed.  Many  as- 
sessors are  frank  to  admit  that  when  they  come  to  the  larger  real 
estate  and  improvements  they  lack  the  knowledge  of  real  estate  values 
necessary  to  make  a  fair  assessment,  and  consequently  their  valua- 
tions are  haphazard;  (3)  As  between  districts  the  cause  of  inequality 
is  found  in  the  unwillingness  of  assessors  to  assess  properly  higher 
for  county  purposes  than  the  valuations  in  other  districts  for  the 
same  end.  Several  assessors  stated  that  they  were  cognizant  of  the 
fact  that  in  neighboring  tax  districts  assessed  valuations  were  pur- 
posely low,  in  some  as  low  as  twenty  per  cent  of  the  selling  value,  in 
order  to  lighten  the  burden  of  county  taxation  falling  on  them.  A 
low  assessed  valuation  of  realty  and  a  high  local  tax  rate  result  in 
a  smaller  contribution  to  the  county  treasury  and  a  larger  amount 
for  local  expenditures.  The  county  tax  rate  tends  to  remain  con- 
stant— at  present  two  and  four-fifths  mills — while  the  local  tax  rate 
fluctuates  to  meet  rising  or  falling  local  expenditures.  Each  assessor 
is  anxious  that  his  district  shall  pay  no  more  than  its  proportionate 
share  into  the  county  treasury  and  so  adopts  a  low  assessment  basis. 
5.  The  tax  rate. 

In  choosing  between  a  low  assessed  valuation  of  property  and  a 
high  tax  rate,  and  a  high  valuation  of  property  and  a  low  tax  rate,. 


18  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

the  prevailing  practice  in  the  tax  districts  of  Delaware  County  is  to 
<accept  the  former.  In  speaking  with  county  and  locaP  officials  we 
learned  that  the  people  in  the  different  wards,  townships  and  bo- 
roughs prefer  a  low  assessment  and  a  high  tax  rate.  The  reason 
given  for  this  condition  is  the  one  mentioned  above,  namely,  that  the 
people  are  perfectly  willing  to  pay  a  high  tax  rate  for  local  pur- 
poses because  they  are  compensated  through  low  assessment  which 
results  in  a  lighter  county  tax.  In  other  words,  the  people  are  some- 
what willing  to  pay  for  local  improvements  but  are  much  less  willing 
to  share  the  general  obligations  resulting  from  county  expenditures. 
Evidence  of  this  antagonism  between  local  and  county  units  of  gov- 
ernment has  been  found  by  the  Board  of  Revision  of  Taxes  in  the 
city  of  Chester  where  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  for  local 
purposes  was  much  higher  than  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  same 
property  for  county  purposes.  The  difference  is  due  largely  to  the 
fact  that  Chester  has  two  sets  of  assessors,  city  and  county.  This 
conflict  between  the  interests  of  the  different  localities  and  the  county 
is  a  source  of  perplexity  to  county  officials,  for  it  has  a  marked  effect 
on  county  revenue. 

The  county  tax  rate  is  two  and  four-fifths  mills  on  each  dollar's 
worth  of  land  and  improvements.  The  rate  is  not  fixed  and 
permanent,  but  is  determined  by  the  county  commissioners  at  their 
own  discretion,  except  that  a  rate  once  set  remains  unchanged  for 
^one  year.  Previous  to  1914  the  county  tax  rate  was  three  mills  on 
the  dollar,  but  in  that  year  the  poor  tax  was  instituted  as  a  separate 
means  of  providing  for  the  county's  dependents.  Before  that  time 
the  poor  had  been  cared  for  by  a  special  annual  appropriation  made 
by  the  county  commissioners,  and  taken  out  of  the  general  revenue 
fund.  When  the  poor  tax  was  introduced,  the  county  tax  rate  on 
land  and  improvements  was  reduced  to  two  and,  four-fifths 
mills.  Although  the  county  rate  may  be  changed  annually,  it  does 
not  undergo  frequent  alterations. 

Although  a  discussion  of  the  local  tax  rate  is  not  within  the 
intended  scope  of  this  survey,  it  is  worth  while  to  note  ;n  passing 
the  difference  that  obtains  in  these  rates  throughout  the  county. 
The  difference  between  the  financial  burdens  of  the  several  tax  dis- 
tricts results  in  a  marked  variation  in  their  tax  rates.  Through  the 

»The  word  "local"  here  applies  to  townships  and  boroughs. 


ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION   OP  REAL  ESTATE  19' 

courtesy  of  a  county  official  we  secured  a  list  of  local  tax  rates.  Frac- 
tions of  a  mill  are  omitted.  The  rates  are  expressed  in  terms  of  mills, 
and  include  local  and  county  taxes.10 

Tax  Rate  in  the  Various  Boroughs  and  Townships  and  the 
City  of  Chester. 


Place 


Rate 


Aston 22 

Aldon 15 

Bethel 12 

Birmingham 11 

Concord 14 

Clifton  Heights 15 

Upper  Chichester 16 

Lower  Chichester 16 

Chester  Township 15 

Collingdale 20 

Colwyn 22 

Darby 21 

Darby  Township 19 

Upper  Darby 20 

Eddystone 14 

Edgmont 12 

Glenolden 22 

Haverford 17 

Marple 14 

Morton 27 

Media. .  20 


Place  Rate 

Millbourne 14 

Newtown 14 

Norwood 24 

Nether  Providence 18 

Upper  Providence 14 

Prospect  Park 24 

Ridley  Park 25 

Ridley  Township 17 

Ruthledge 24 

Sharon  Hill 21 

Springfield 14 

Swarthmore 24 

Thornbury 13 

Tinicum 19 

Upland 24 

East  Landsdowne 21 

Lansdowne 22 

Yeaden 15 

Radnor 15 

Chester  City 20 

Middleton.  .  15 


It  will  be  observed  from  the  above  list  that  the  tax  rates  in 
Delaware  County  vary  from  eleven  to  twenty-seven  mills  on  the  dol- 
lar. We  were  told  that  the  very  high  rate  which  prevails  in  some 
boroughs  and  townships,  as  compared  with  that  which  obtains  in 
others,  is  due  to  a  difference  in  the  percentage  basis  of  assessment; 
a  low  assessment  necessitating  a  high  rate  and  a  high  assessment 
allowing  a  low  rate  of  taxation.  A  second  reason  for  this  variation 
in  the  tax  rate  is  that  which  was  set  forth  above,  namely,  the  differ- 
ence which  exists  in  the  financial  burdens  of  the  various  communities. 
6.  Assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  for  alternate  years  covering  the 
period  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 

Eeal  estate  bears  the  heaviest  end  of  the  tax  burden  in  Delaware- 


rates  were  secured  in  1916,  and  were  the  same  for  that  and' 
the  preceding  year. 


:20 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


•County  and  its  contribution  to  the  revenue  fund  of  the  county  has 
increased  steadily  during  the  period  which  we  have  covered  in  our 
investigation.  In  order  that  it  may  be  seen  what  actual  increase 
there  has  been  we  have  listed  below  the  assessed  valuation  of  real 
estate  for  alternate  years  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive.  In  drawing 
conclusions  from  these  statistics  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  they 
represent  the  assessed  valuation  of  realty  and  not  revenue  receipts 
from  this  source.  Since  these  data  were  collected  long  after  all  ap- 
peals had  been  adjusted,  and  consequent  changes  in  assessment  made, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  they  convey  an  accurate  idea  of  the 
proportion  of  the  revenue  which  falls  on  real  estate. 

Table  IV.  Showing  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable 
property,  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  and  the  percentage 
which  the  assessed  valuation  of  realty  bears  to  the  total  assessed 
valuations,  for  alternate  years  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


Year 

Total  Assessed 
Value  of  all 

Assessed 
Value  of 

Percentage  Assessed  Val- 
uation of  Real  Estate 
Bears  to  Total  Assessed 

Taxable  Property 

Real  Estate 

Valuations 

1906 

$64,665,418.33 

$51,247,534.00 

79.10 

1908 

78,199,001.75 

63,918,694.00 

81.80 

1910 

91,724,977.89 

70,543,091.00 

76.90 

1912 

92,135,974.50 

69,305,277.00 

75.30 

1914 

110,203,611.42 

82,423,442.00 

74.70 

1916 

119,730,329.28 

94,300,330.00 

78.80 

It  is  seen  from  the  above  table  that  the  total  assessed  valuation 
of  all  taxable  property  steadily  increased  from  1906  to  1916.  Real 
estate,  however,  suffered  a  decrease  in  valuation  in  1912.  In  the 
four  year  period  subsequent  to  1912  there  was  a  rapid  iacrease  in 
assessed  valuation  of  real  property,  jumping  to  $82,423,142.00  in 
1914,  an  increase  of  $13,118,165.00  over  1912,  and  reaching  the  high 
mark  of  $94,300,330.00  in  1916,  or  an  increase  of  $24,995,053.00 
over  1912.  In  other  words,  in  the  brief  period  of  four  years  the 
assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  in  Delaware  County  increased  $24,- 
995,053.00.  The  principal  causes  of  this  increase  are:  (1)  Exten- 
sive development  of  real  estate  and  quickened  building  activity,  and 


ASSESSMENT   AND  TAXATION   OF  REAL  ESTATE  21 

(2)  Improvement  in  many  districts  of  the  method  of  fixing  the  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property.  During  the  last  four  years  Delaware 
County  is  said  to  have  experienced  the  most  prosperous  period  of  its 
history.  This  augmented  prosperity  is  due  largely  to  the  extensive 
business  done  by  the  many  industrial  plants  which  are  located  in  the 
county  and  which  have  been  engaged  in  making  munitions  and  other 
supplies  and  accessories  for  the  belligerent  nations  in  the  present 
world  conflict.  This  quickened  industrial  activity  has  caus3d  a  great 
influx  of  workers  and  a  great  deal  of  building  has  taken  place  to 
house  the  growing  population.  Whereas  in  1910  the  population  of 
the  county  was  HT^OG,11  it  is  now  estimated  to  be  over  150,000.12 

As  stated  above,  a  second  cause  of  the  increase  in  assessed  valua- 
tion of  real  estate  during  the  last  four  years  is  found  in  the  improved 
methods  of  assessing  all  taxable  property.  Many  assessors  have  in- 
troduced more  scientific  means  of  making  valuations  of  property, 
real  and  personal,  and  since  1913  the  assessors  have  been  empowered 
to  administer  the  oath  in  the  declarations  of  values  by  owners .  of 
personal  property.  This  power  enables  the  more  scrupulous  assess- 
ors to  emphasize  the  necessity  and  expediency  of  honest  valuations, 
for  false  declarations  are  punishable  by  law.  Whatever  improve- 
ments there  may  have  been  along  this  line,  however,  have  been  intro- 
duced only  within  the  past  year  or  so,  for  in  his  annual  report  for 
1914  the  county  controller  complained  of  a  decided  lack  of  uniformity 
in  the  method  of  fixing  the  values  of  real  estate,  and  the  consequent 
effect  upon  the  revenue  of  the  county.  He  states  that:  "Many  of 
these  officers  (real  estate  assessors)  seem  to  make  a  fair  and  equitable 
assessment,  while  in  a  great  many  cases  there  does  not  appear  to  be 
any  uniformity  in  the  method  adopted  by  them  in  fixing  the  values, 
of  real  estate.  The  revenue  which  eventually  finds  its  way  into  the 
public  treasury  is  derived  for  the  most  part  by  taxation,  and  it 
seems  to  me  very  important  that  some  uniform  system  of  fixing 
valuations  more  equitable  than  the  present  system,  should  be 
adopted."13 

In  his  report  for  1915,  however/  the  controller  was  able  to  state 

nSmull's,  Handbook,  1914,  p.  351-2. 

isEstimate  made  by  County  Controller,  Orion  L.  Davia.  and  other 
county  officials. 

isFirst  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, 1914,  p.  4. 


22  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

that:  "By  the  adoption  of  some  modern  methods,  and  the  accepting 
of  several  suggestions  we  have  made,  the  various  assessors  have  been 
able  to  complete  their  duties  during  the  past  year  in  a  manner  much 
more  satisfactory  to  themselves  and  the  county A  more  uni- 
form and  equitable  manner  of  reaching  values  has  been  a  lop  ted  by 
the  majority  of  assessors,  and  I  personally  feel  that  we  have  reached 
a  plan  which  is  as  nearly  correct  and  fair  as  can  possibly  be  had 
when  the  work  has  to  be  done  by  so  many  men,  each  operating  under 
different  local  conditions."14 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  controller  possessed  sufficient  grounds 
for  optimism.  If  such  improved  methods  have  been  introduced  we 
were  unable  to  discover  them  in  the  course  of  our  investigation.  Fur- 
thermore the  tax  receipts  do  not  reveal  any  striking  improvement,  for 
in  1914  they  amounted  to  $416,623.1015  and  in  1915  to  $418,885.85,16 
or  an  increase  of  only  $2,262.75  in  one  year.  The  controller's  state- 
ment for  191617  appears  to  have  more  solid  foundation,  for  he  shows 
that  cash  receipts  for  that  year  amounted  to  $473,305.03,  as  against 
$438,730.39  for  1915,  showing  an  increase  of  $34,574.64  for  1916.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  expenditures  for  1915  amounted  to  $406,987.69, 
while  those  of  1916  amounted  to  $423,670.28,  showing  an  increase 
of  $16,682.59  in  1916.18  This  leaves  an  absolute  increase  in  cash  re- 
ceipts of  $17,892.06  for  1916. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  statistics  in  Table  IV  that  the  assessed 
valuation  of  real  estate  decreased  in  1912,  being  $69,305,277.00  or 
:$1,237,814.00  less  than  for  1910,  and  $13,118,165.00  less  than  for  1914. 
It  is  highly  improbable  that  there  should  be  so  great  decrease  in  the 
value  of  real  estate  in  so  short  a  period.  The  only  explanation  that 
we  can  give  for  this  decrease  is  that  there  was  some  depreciation  in 
the  value  of  real  estate  in  the  county,  accompanied  by  an  extremely 

i4Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, 1915,  p.  3. 

isFirst  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, 1914,  p.  30. 

isSecond  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, 1915,  p.  38. 

i?Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, 1916,  p.  4. 

isThird  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, 1916,  p.  4. 


ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OF  REAL  ESTATE 


careless  and  low  assessment  of  taxable  property.  Officials  with  whom 
we  talked  offered  no  explanation.  The  assessed  valuation  of  all  tax- 
able property  in  Delaware  County  was  $2,161,010.00  less  in  1912  than 
in  1910. 

In  regard  to  the  statistics  presented  in  Table  IV  it  should  be 
pointed  out  that  they  include  the  assessed  valuation  of  moneys  at 
interest  and  other  evidences  of  wealth  which  previous  to  1913  were 
taxable  only  for  state  purposes.19  If  we  deduct  this  state  tax  from 
the  totals,  there  will  result  a  great  increase  in  the  share  of  the  local20 
burden  borne  by  real  estate  relative  to  the  share  which  f?ll  on  other 
taxable  property.  This  we  have  done  in  the  table  below,  which  gives 
the  assessed  valuation  of  all  property  subject  to  taxation  for  county 
purposes  and  the  percentage  of  the  total  which  falls  on  real  estate. 

Table  V.  Showing  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  a?l  property 
taxable  for  local  purposes,  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate,  and 
the  percentage  which  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  bears  to  the 
total  assessed  valuations,  for  alternate  years  from  1906  to  1916  in- 
clusive. 


Total  Assessed  Value 

Assessed 

Percentage  Assessed  Valu-  ' 

Year 

of  all  Prop.  Taxable 

Value  of 

ation  of  Real  Estate  Bears  to 

for  Local  Purposes 

Real  Estate 

Total  Assessed  Valuations 

1906 

$54,888,123.00 

$51,247,534.00 

93.4 

1908 

67,334,747.00 

63,918,694.00 

95.1 

1910 

75,440,332.00 

70,543,091.00 

93.6 

1912 

73,279,322.00 

69,305,277.00 

94.7 

1914 

110,203,611.42 

82,423,442.00 

74.8 

1916 

119,739,329.28 

94,300,330.00 

78.7 

According  to  the  above  statistics  the  relative  shares  of  the  tax 
burden  borne  by  real  estate  did  not  vary  much  until  1914.  The 
marked  decrease  in  the  percentage  shown  for  1914  and  1916  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  since  1913  the  tax  on  intangible  personalty  —  moneys 
at  interest,  et  cetera  —  has  been  levied  for  local  purposes.  Intangible 


isprevious  to  1918,  the  state  tax  on  personal  property  was  four 
on  the  dollar. 

2oThe  word  "local"  as  here  used  applies  to  the  county. 


24  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

personalty  constituted  twenty-one  per  cent  of  the  total  assessed  val- 
uation of  all  taxable  property  in  1914,  and  eighteen  and  four-tenths 
per  cent  in  1916. 
7.     Property  exempt  from  taxation. 

(1)  Kinds  of  property  exempted.  Pursuant  to  the  Constitution 
and  under  the  Act  of  May  14,  1874,  the  following  property  is  exempt 
from  taxation:  All  public  property,  churches,  cemeteries  not  used 
for  private  or  corporate  profit,  hospitals,  colleges  and  other  institu- 
tions of  learning,  benevolence  or  charity,  public  libraries,  and  endow- 
ments thereof  and  property  used  for  public  museums  and  art  galleries. 
In  their  instructions  to  assessors  the  county  commissioners  state  that 
the  kinds  of  property  exempt  from  taxation  are:  "Public  property 
used  for  public  purposes,  actual  places  of  religious  worship,  places  of 
burial  not  used  or  held  for  private  or  corporate  profit,  and  institutions 
of  purely  public  charity."21  In  such  exemptions,  however,  there  is 
included  only  the  land  necessary  for  convenient  use  of  the  building  or 
buildings  erected  or  hereafter  to  be  erected  thereon,  occupied,  and 
used  for  the  purposes  above  described,  and  provided  also  "that  all 
property,  real  and  personal,  in  actual  use  and  occupation  for  pur- 
poses aforesaid  shall  be  subject  to  taxation,  unless  the  person  or 
persons,  associations  or  corporations  so  using  and  occupying  the  same 
shall  be  seized  of  the  legal  or  equitable  title  in  the  realty  ana  possessor 
of  the  personal  property  absolutely/'22 

The  exemption  from  taxation  of  so  extensive  a  list  of  property 
as  described  above  is  a  source  of  great  perplexity  to  the  various 
boroughs  and  townships  of  Delaware  County,  for  in  some  localities 
the  amount  of  property  exempted  is  such  as  to  inflict  a  hervy  burden 
on  taxable  real  estate,  as  will  be  shown  later.  Before  examining  the 
lists  and  amounts  of  exempted  property  as  set  forth  in  each  of  the 
assessors'  books,  we  discussed  the  question  with  county  and  local 
officials  and  learned  that  the  problem  of  exemption  is  one  of  much 
concern  to  county  and  local  authorities.  The  concensus  of  opinion 

siPrecept  of  the  Commissioners  of  Delaware  County  to  Assessors  for 
the  Triennial  Assessment,  1913,  p.  4.  See  also  Laws  of  Pa.,  1874,  p.  158, 
Act  of  May  14;  Laws  of  Pa.,  1901,  pp.  319-20,  Act  of  May  29;  Laws  of  Pa., 
1901,  p.  244,  Act  of  May  29;  Constitution  of  Pa.,  Art.  IX,  Sees.  1  and  2, 
printed  in  Laws  of  Pa.,  1874,  p.  19. 

2-'Pennsylvania  Statutes,  1901,  pp.  319-20. 


ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OF  REAL  ESTATE  25 

among  these  men  was  that  the  time  has  come  when  much  of  the  prop- 
erty which  now  contributes  nothing  to  the  public  treasury  should  be 
made  to  do  so.  Our  attention  was  directed  to  several  tax  districts 
which  suffer  because  of  the  large  amounts  of  property  exempt  from 
taxation.  These  cases  are  cited  later  as  illustrations  of  effects  of 
exemption. 

The  assessed  valuation  of  land  and  improvements  in 
Delaware  County  for  1916  was  $94,300,330.00.  The  statistics  on  ex- 
emption given  in  the  assessors'  books  for  1916  show  a  total  assessed 
valuation  of  exempted  property  amounting  to  $11,265,231.00.  In 
other  words,  the  assessed  valuation  of  exempted  property  in  Delaware 
County  in  1916  was  approximately  twelve  per  cent  of  the  assessed 
valuation  of  taxable  land  and  improvements  for  the  same  year.  In 
considering  these  statistics,  however,  care  should  be  taken  to  recall  the 
data  presented  earlier  in  the  survey,  which  showed  that  all  property 
in  Delaware  County,  exempted  property  included,  is  assessed  ex- 
tremely low,  never  exceeding  seventy  per  cent  of  its  selling  value  and 
frequently  falling  to  twenty  per  cent.  If  a  truer  valuation  were  made 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  exempt  from 
taxation,  like  all  other  property,  would  be  much  higher.  Furthermore, 
we  were  unable  to  secure  statistics  on  the  amount  of  railroad  property 
exempt  from  taxation.  In  all  probability  this  would  swell  the  totals 
considerably.  Before  giving  a  general  tabulation  of  amounts  of 
property  exempt  from  taxation  in  the  various  districts  it  might  be  of 
value  to  give  in  detail  the  nature  and  extent  of  exempted  property 
in  a  few  localities.  The  following  are  perhaps  the  most  extreme  cases 
•of  the  possible  bad  effects  of  exemption : 


26 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OP  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


Assessed  valuation  of  property  exempt  from  taxation  compared 
with  the  assessed  valuation  of  taxable  real  estate  and  the  total  assessed 
valuation  of  all  property  in  Thornbury  Borough  for  1 916. 


Total 

Assessed 

Assessed 

Assessed 

Description  of  Property 

Valuation 

Valuation 

Valuation 

of  Exempted 

of  Real 

of  all  Taxable 

Property 

Estate 

Property 

Glen  Mills  School  

$    900,000 

$685,808 

$824,819 

Thornbury  Eastern  School  .... 

7,000 

Thornbury  Central  School  .... 

3,000 

Thornbury  Western  School  

4,000 

Bethlehem  M.  E.  Church  

5,000 

Glen  Mills  M.  E.  Church  

1,000 

Stoney  Bank  M.  E.  Church.  .  . 

1,000 

Thornbury  M.  E.  Church 

800 

Wayside  M.  E.  Church  

2,000 

Bldgs.  Cheyney  Tr.  School  

120,000 

Assn.  Care  of  Colored  Persons 

15,000 

Totals 

$1,059,300 

$685,808 

$824,819 

ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION   OF  REAL  ESTATE 


27 


Assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  exempt  from  taxation  compared 
with  the  assessed  valuation  of  taxable  real  estate  and  the  total  assessed 
valuation  of  all  property  in  Middletown  Township  for  1916. 


Total 

Assessed 

Assessed 

Assessed 

Description  of  Property 

Valuation 

Valuation 

Valuation 

of  Exempted 

of  Real 

of  all  Taxable 

Property 

Estate 

Property 

Lima  M.  E.  Church  

$    2,500 

$1,271,660 

$1,384,370 

Glenkiddle  M.  E.  Church  

500 

Middletown  Presby.  Church..  . 

2,800 

Hicksite  Friends  Meet'g  Hs...  . 

1,500 

Orthodox  Friends  Meet'g  Hs... 

1,500 

N  A.  M.  E.  Church        .... 

1,500 

Delaware  County  Home  

36,000 

Williamson  Trade  School  

80,000 

House  of  Refuge  for  Girls  

50,000 

Penn.  Training  School  

195,000 

Darling  School  

2,000 

Lima  School                     

8,000 

Parkmount  School 

2,800 

Elwyn  School  No  1 

1,500 

Elwyn  School  No.  2     

1,500 

Burence  School 

600 

Media  Water  Wks.  and  Mach.  . 

75,000 

Totals                    

$462,701 

$1,271,660 

$1,384,370 

The  above  tabulations  show  in  detail  the  problem  of  exemption 
as  it  obtains  in  a  few  communities.  In  the  table  below  the  problem  is 
stated  in  more  general  form,  but  will  hhow  in  what  districts  and  to 
what  extent  exemption  of  property  from  taxation  .constitutes  a 
burden. 


28 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


Table  VI.  Showing  the  amounts  of  property  exempt,  from  tax- 
ation and  the  percentage  which  these  bear  to  the  assessed  valuation 
of  real  estate  and  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable  property 
in  each  district  of  Delaware  County  for  1916. 


Name 
of 
District 

Assessed 
Valuation 
Exempted 
Property 

Assessed 
Valuation 
Realty 

Percent. 
Ex. 
Prop. 
Bears 
to 
Real 
Estate 

Total 
Assessed 
Valuation 
All 
Property 

Percent. 
As.  Val. 
of  Ex. 
Property 
Bears  to 
Total 
As.  Vals. 

Aston  

$      582,000 

$      972,925 

59  8 

$     1,239,107 

47  4 

Aldon 

36  600 

756  675 

4  7 

837,121 

4  3 

Bethel 

14  000 

286  571 

4  9 

371  425 

3  7 

Birmingham  
Chester  Twnshp.  . 
Upper  Chichester 
Lower  Chichester 
Clifton  Heights 
(all  wards)  
Collingdale  
Chester  City  (all 
wards)  
Colwyn  
Concord  

10,950 
152,800 
9,500 
31,600 

82,200 
82,500 

2,229,000 
55,000 
33,800 

545,638 
467,430 
460,356 
1,009,545 

1,234,885 
1,618,875 

19,509,399 
638,115 
848,004 

1.8 
32.7 
2.1 
3.1 

6.6 
5.1 

11.4 
8.6 
3.9 

745,477 
538,582 
785,156 
1,133,945 

1,429,868 
1,790,966 

24,715,219' 
793,844 
1,136,178 

1.4 

28.2 
1.2 
2.8 

5.8 
4.6 

9.0 
6.9 
2.9 

Darby  (all  wards) 
Darby  Township 
Upper  Darby  .... 
East  Lansdowne 
Eddystone.  .  .  . 

316,700 
21,000 
319,000 
20,500 
77,000 

2,922,400 
989,312 
6,000,100 
604,400 
3,197,540 

10.7 
2.1 
5.3 
3.4 

2.4 

3,696,297 
1,061,157 
7,086,104 
701,835 
3,287,950 

8.5 
1.9 
4.5 
2.9 
2.3 

Edgmont.  .  . 

3,600 

614,040 

.5 

700,557 

.5 

Glenolden  
Haverf  ord  
Lansdowne  
Marcus  Hook 
(all  wards)  

69,000 
358,750 
455,000 

142,000 

1,177,804 
6,923,939 
3,623,285 

2,175,025 

5.8 
5.1 
12.5 

6.3 

1,311,461 

8,584,899 
4,071,211 

2,296,835 

5.2 
4.1 
11.2 

6.2 

Marple  
Media  

31,520 
819,000 

1,098,732 
2,486,880 

2.8 
33.0 

1,317,080 
3,796,717 

2.4 
21.6 

Middletown  
Millbourne  .  . 

462,701 
5,000 

1,271,660 
505,000 

36.4 
.9 

1,882,004 
595,830 

24.6 

.8 

Morton  
Newtown 

35,000 
69,000 

426,710 
1,262,340 

8.2 
5.4 

519,640 
3,998,795 

6.8 
1.7 

Norwood  ........ 

171,500 

1,171,975 

14.6 

1,376,325 

12.5 

Nether  Provi- 
dence .           ... 

50,000 

1,967,935 

2.5 

3,019,996 

1.6 

Upper  Providence 

68,000 

1,075,836 

6.3 

1,580,356 

4.3 

ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OF  REAL  ESTATE 

Table  VI  (continued) 


29 


Percent. 

Percent. 

Ex. 

Total 

As.  Val. 

Name 

Assessed 

Assessed 

Prop. 

Assessed 

of  Ex. 

of 

Valuation 

Valuation 

Bears 

Valuation 

Property 

District 

Exempted 

Realty 

to 

All 

Bears  to 

Property 

Real 

Property 

Total 

Estate 

As.  Vals. 

Radnor  

1,768,250 

11,336,010 

15.6 

15,081,530 

11.7 

Prospect  Park.  .  .  . 

56,500 

1,152,640 

4.9 

1,402,650 

4.0 

Ridley  Township  . 

116,780 

2,493,130 

4.7 

2,772,339 

4.1 

Ridley  Park  

261,800 

1,936,840 

13.4 

2,486,026 

10.5 

Ruthledge  .  . 

25,900 

423,525 

6.1 

528,250 

4.9 

Springfield  

83,500 

1,220,207 

6.8 

1,374,502 

6.1 

Sharon  Hill 

100,000 

1,007,182 

9.9 

1,312,469 

7.6 

Swarthmore  

591,000 

2,184,373 

27.0 

3,622,764 

16.3 

Thornbury  

1,059,300 

685,808 

154.6 

814,819 

130.0 

Tinicum 

24,000 

873,815 

2.7 

970,351 

2.4 

Upland  

278,700 

668,230 

41.6 

1,843,890 

15.1 

Yeadon  

7,000 

1,170,215 

.6 

1,715,099 

.4 

Totals  

$11,938,451 

$94,300,330 

12.6 

$120,017,626 

9.9 

It  will  be  observed  from  the  above  table  that  (1)  the  percentage 
which  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  exempt  from  taxation  bears 
to  the  assessed  valuation  of  realty  is  less  than  one  per  cent  in  three 
districts,  between  one  and  five  per  cent  in  fourteen  districts,  between 
five  and  ten  per  cent  in  twelve  districts,  between  ten  and  fifteen  per  cent 
in  six  districts,  between  fifteen  and  fifty  per  cent  in  six  districts,  and 
above  fifty  per  cent  in  two  districts;  (2)  the  relative  percentage  that 
the  assessed  valuation  of  exempted  property  bears  to  the  total  assessed 
valuation  of  all  property,  real  and  personal,  is  less  than  one  per  cent 
in  three  districts,  from  one  to  five  per  cent  in  twenty  districts,  from 
five  to  ten  per  cent  in  nine  districts,  from  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent  in  four 
districts,  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  per  cent  in  four  districts,  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent  in  two  districts,  and  above  fifty  per  cent 
in  one  district. 

The  total  assessed  valuation  of  exempted  property  foi  1916  was 
$11,938,451;  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  was  $94,300,- 


30  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OP  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

330;  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable  property,  real  and 
personal  was  $120,017,626.  This  means  that  the  value  of  exempted 
property  was  12.62  of  the  value  of  real  estate  and  9.92  of  the  value  of 
all  taxable  property. 

The  communities  suffering  most  as  a  result  of  excessive  exemp- 
tion are  Upland,  in  which  the  value  of  exempted  property  is  41.6  the 
value  of  real  estate  and  15.1  the  value  of  all  taxable  property ;  Aston, 
in  which  the  value  of  exempted  property  is  59.8  the  value  of  real 
estate,  and  47.4  the  value  of  all  taxable  property;  Thornbury,  in 
which  the  value  of  exempted  property  is  154.6  or  more  than  one  and 
one-half  times  the  value  of  real  estate,  and  130  or  one  and  one-third 
times  the  value  of  all  taxable  property.23 

We  found  a  marked  difference  of  opinion  among  officials  as  to 
what  is  the  best  remedy  for  this  apparent  difficulty  of  exemption 
from  taxation.  Some  maintained  very  decisively  that  all  exempt 
public  property  should  be  subject  to  taxation  for  local  purposes; 
others  doubted  the  wisdom  and  feasibility  of  taxing  such  non-profit- 
making  institutions  as  churches,  colleges,  and  other  institutions  of 
charity  and  learning,  houses  of  refuge,  hospitals,  orphanages,  etc. 
It  is  very  obvious  that  to  tax  schools  and  other  public  property,  as  one 
official  suggested  should  be  done,  would  be  but  to  rob  Peter  to  pay 
Paul,  for  in  so  doing  the  public  would  be  taxing  itself.  Some  sug- 
gest the  taxation  of  property  used  in  state  purposes.  This,  too,  seems 
to  us  to  be  inexpedient.  Since  the  State  in  1913  turned  ever  to  the 
counties  the  tax  on  moneys  at  interest,  etc.  to  be  in  the  future  solely 
a  county  tax,  it  would  seem  unfair  for  the  counties  to  turn  around  and 
tax  property  used  in  state  purposes.  Might  not  the  State  retaliate  by 
regaining  the  power  to  tax  intangible  personalty  as  a  source  of  state 
revenue,  thus  depriving  the  counties  of  this  desirable  local  tax  ?  How- 
ever, it  seems  but  just  that  railroads  and  other  corporations  at  present 
exempt  from  local  taxation  should  be  made  to  pay  some  tax  for  local 
purposes  on  their  real  estate,-4  stations,  railroad  tracks,  freight 

23Aston  has  $561,000  worth  of  church  property;  Upland,  $275,200; 
Thornbury  has  churches  and  charitable  schools  assessed  at  $1,044,800. 

2<Except  in  a  few  cases  we-  were  unable  to  find  in  the  assessors'  bocks 
the  valuation  of  property  of  railroads  and  other  corporations  exempt  from 
taxation.  This  rendered  impossible  a  very  desirable  study  of  ttrp  particular 
phase  of  the  problem  of  exemption,  andi  means,  consequently,  that  the 
statistics  in  Table  VI  are  too  low,  rather  than  too  high. 


ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OP  REAL  ESTATE 


31 


houses  and  the  like,  which  are  used  in  the  operation  of  their  business. 
Such  a  tax,  even  though  small,  would  add  materially  to  the  revenue  of 
the  many  localities  and  to  the  county  and  would  by  no  means  result 
in  undesirable  taxation. 
8.     Revenue  receipts  from  real  estate. 

In  an  earlier  part  of  this  chapter  there  was  pointed  out  the  rela- 
tive percentage  of  the  tax  burden  borne  by  real  estate  during  alternate 
years  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive.  This  fact  is  again  revealed  by  the 
statistics  of  the  following  table. 

Table  VII.  Showing  county  revenue  receipts  from  real  estate 
and  percentage  these  bear  to  the  total  receipts  from  all  taxable  prop- 
erty, real  and  personal,  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive.25 


Revenue  Receipts 

Revenue  Receipts 

Percentage  of  the 

Year 

from 

from  All 

Total  Which 

Real  Estate 

Taxables26 

Falls  on  Realty 

1906 

$153,742.60 

$204,249.50 

75.2 

1908 

191,756.08 

245,481.29 

78.2 

1910 

211,629.27 

291,383.68 

72.6 

1912 

207,915.83 

293,141.63 

70.9 

1914 

313,209.07 

418,768.50 

74.8 

1916 

358,341.25 

460,857.19 

77.9 

It  is  seen  from  the  above  table  that  the  revenue  receipts  from  real 
estate  increased  quite  rapidly  from  1906  to  1916,  but  that  the  relative 
share  of  the  tax  burden  remained  more  or  less  constant.  At  first 
glance  this  may  appear  inconsistent,  but  is  plausible  when  one  con- 
siders the  very  rapid  increase  in  the  share  of  the  tax  burden  which  has 

2^It  should  be  remembered  that  this  is  a  survey  of  the  county  tax 
system,  and  that  consequently  all  receipts  herein  cited  are  those  of  the 
county,  except  in  case  of  intangible  personalty  which  previous  to  1913  was 
taxable  for  state  purposes,  the  county  receiving  from  the  state  &  return  of 
three-fourths  of  the  total  collected  from  this  source.  Revenue  receipts 
given  in  this  survey  are  our  own  estimates,  based  on  assessed  valuations. 
Official  statistics  on  receipts  were  not  available. 

26The  term  "taxables"  is  used  throughout  this  study  as  referring  to 
taxable  property,  including  occupations. 


32  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

fallen  on  intangible  personalty,  as  moneys  at  interest,  etc.,  during  the 
period  of  ten  years.     The  increase  in  intangible  personal  property 
during  recent  years  is  recognized  as  a  world  phenomenon,  and  Dela- 
ware County  has  not  been  without  its  proportional  increase. 
9.     Conclusions. 

(1)  Relative  to  the  method  of  assessment  the  results  of  our  in- 
vestigation warrant  the  conclusion  that  the  old  system  of  assessing 
land  and  improvements  jointly  has  proved  a  failure,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence it  is  necessary  to  introduce  throughout  the  county  the  method, 
now  used  in  only  a  few  districts,  of  assessing  them  separately. 

(2)  As  to  the  basis  of  assessment,  the  facts  brought  out  on  this 
subject  in  the  foregoing  pages  show  the  great  need  for  the  introduction 
of  a  uniform  percentage  basis  of  assessment  in   order  to    avoid   the 
inequalities  in  the  burden  of  county  taxation  that  now  fall  on  the 
respective    tax   districts   due    to   the  different  assessment  bases.    At 
present  a  locality  with  a  high  percentage  basis  of  assessment  pays  a 
larger  sum  into  the  county  treasury  than  does  a  district  with  a  low 
percentage  basis.     A  uniform  basis  would  eliminate  this  inequality. 

(3)  Closely  related  to  the  last  mentioned  difficulty  is  the  con- 
flict between  local  and  county  units  of  government.    A  situation  in 
which  the  localities  tolerate  a  very  low  assessment  basis  and  a  very 
high  local  tax  rate  in  order  to  escape  their  just  share  of  county  tax- 
ation  is  obviously  undesirable   in   a  progressive   community   where 
county  authorities  are  striving  to  introduce  desired  improvements. 

(4)  From  the  discussion  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate 
it  must  be  concluded  that  although  realty  bears  the  greater  burden 
of  taxation  in  Delaware  County  its  assessed  valuation  is  far  below  its 
selling  value,  in  some  districts  falling  to  twenty  per  cent  and  rarely  v 
if  ever,  in  any  district  rising  above  seventy  per  cent  of  its  real  value. 

(5)  The  amount  of  exempted  property  constitutes,  as  pointed 
out  above,  a  very  vital  problem  for  some  tax  districts  like  Aston, 
Thornbury,  and  Upland,  while  in  other  districts  it  is  not  so  pressing 
a  dimculty.     It  is  quite  necessary,  however,  that  something  be  dene 
to  lighten  the  burden  which  now  falls  on  some  communities  as  a  result 
of  numerous  exemptions.     What  constitutes  the  most,  desirable  and 
effective  reform  it  is  difficult  to  determine.     County  investigation  of 

'  private    institutions   of  learning   and    other    supposedly    charitable 
enterprises  should  be  made  to  find  out  whether  any  of  these  are  mak- 


ASSESSMENT  AND  TAXATION  OP  REAL  ESTATE  33 

ing  profits.  If  it  should  be  discovered  that  these  institutions  are 
being  run  for  profit,  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  con- 
tribute to  the  public  treasury.  As  stated  above,  the  law  exempts  only 
those  enterprises  which  are  purely  charitable  and  non-profit-making 
in  character  and  purpose. 

(6)  Revenue  receipts.  Our  study  of  revenue  receipts  shows 
that  these  have  grown  steadily  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  but  that 
the  relative  share  of  the  tax  burden  falling  on  real  estate  remained 
more  or  less  constant,  due  to  the  great  increase  in  intangible  wealth 
and  the  relative  increase  of  the  tax  burden  falling  on  personal  prop- 
erty. Due  to  inadequate  and  inefficient  methods  of  assessment  real 
estate,  like  all  other  kinds  of  taxable  property,  is  not  bearing  its  full 
proportion  of  taxation.27 

27lt  is  a  matter  of  opinion  what  proportion  of  the  tax  burden  should  fall 
en  real  estate.  Our  judgment  is  that  this  proportion  should  be  eighty  per 
cent,  for  it  is  apparent  that  real  estate  benefits  most  from  improvements — 
in  roads,  bridges,  drainage,  creeks,  etc. — provided  for  out  of  county  funds. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

TAXATION  OF  PERSONAL  PROPERTY 

1.     Kinds  of  property  taxed  and  exempt. 

The  kinds  of  personal  property  subject  to  taxation  for  county 
and  local  purposes  are  clearly  set  forth  in  the  Precept  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  Delaware  County  to  the  assessors  for  the  Triennial 
Assessment,1  and  includes l  i  The  following  personal  property,  to- wit : — 
All  horses,  mares,  geldings,  mules  and  neat  cattle  over  the  age  of 
four  years;  also  all  mortgages  and  moneys  owing  by  solvent  debtors, 
whether  by  promissory  note,  penal  or  single  bill,  bond  or  judgment; 
also  all  articles  of  agreement,  and  accounts  bearing  interest,  owned  or 
possessed  by  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever,  except  notes  or  bills 
for  work  and  labor  done,  and  bank  notes,  all  shares  of  stock  in  any 
institution  or  company  incorporated  by  or  in  pursuance  of  any  law 
of  this  Commonwealth,  or  of  any  other  state  or  government;  and  all 
shares  of  stock  or  weekly  deposits  in  any  unincorporated  saving  fund 
institution,  and  all  public  loans  or  stock  whatsoever  except  those  is- 
sued by  this  Commonwealth.  All  money  loaned  or  invested  at  inter- 
est in  any  other  state.  .  .  .  All  salaries  and  emoluments  of  office,  all 
offices  and  posts  of  profit,  professions,  trades,  and  occupations  (ex- 
cept the  occupation  of  farmer)  ;  and  also  all  single  men  above  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  do  not  follow  any  occupation  or  calling. 
All  dogs,  male  and  female,  over  four  months  of  age,2  owned,  possessed, 
kept  or  permitted  to  remain  about  the  house  of  any  person  in  your 
township,  ward  or  district  ....  All  stages,  omnibuses,  hacks,  cabs, 
and  other  vehicles  used  for  transporting  passengers  for  hire  ...  All 
salaries  or  emoluments  of  office  created  by  or  held  under  the  Con- 
stitution or  laws  of  this  Commonwealth  or  created  or  held  under  any 
corporation,  institution  or  company  incorporated  by  this  Common- 
wealth where  such  salaries  or  emoluments  exceed  two  hundred  dollars. 
All  annuities  over  two  hundred  dollars,  except  those  granted  by  this 
Commonwealth  or  by  the  United  States,  and  upon  all  property,  real 

iPrecept  of  the  Commissioners  of  Delaware  County  to  the  Assessors 
for  the  Triennial  Assessment,  1915,  p.  1. 

2The  Act  of  June  3d,  1915,  changed  the  age  of  taxable  dogs  from  four 
to  eight  months.  Laws  of  Pennsylvania,  1915,  p.  793. 


TAXATION  OP  PERSONAL  PROPERTY  35 

or  personal  (not  taxed  under  existing  laws)  held,  owned;  used  or  in- 
vested by  any  person,  company  or  corporation  in  trust  for  the  use, 
benefit  or  advantage  of  any  other  person,  company  or  corporation, 
excepting  always  such  property  as  shall  be  held  in  trust  for  religious 
purposes. ' ' 

The  above  classification  of  personal  property  includes  occupations 
and  dogs,  both  of  which  we  shall  discuss  under  the  head  "Miscellan- 
eous Sources  of  Revenue"  in  a  later  division  of  this  survey. 
2.     Method  of  Assessment. 

The  valuation  and  assessment  of  tangible  personalty  such  as 
horses  and  cattle,  omnibuses  and  other  vehicles  for  hire,  are  made  by 
the  assessors  in  person  at  the  same  time  in  which  they  make  the 
assessment  of  real  estate. 

The  valuation  and  assessment  of  what  is  commonly  called  in- 
tangible personal  property  such  as  moneys  at  interest  and  other  evi- 
dences of  wealth  enumerated  in  the  classification  given  above  are  made 
by  declaration  on  the  part  of  the  real  owners  of  such  property.  For 
the  purpose  of  this  valuation  a  large  blank  which  contains  the  list  of 
taxable  personalty  is  furnished  to  property  owners.  This  blank  con- 
tains also  instructions  for  filling  out  the  same,  together  with  defini- 
tions of  the  various  terms  used  in  describing  personal  property  sub- 
ject to  taxation.  Vehicles  for  hire  are  included  in  the  list  of  taxable 
personalty,  but  in  practice  these  seem  to  be  assessed  by  the  assessors 
and  not  by  the  declaration  of  the  owners. 

Regarding  the  valuation  and  assessment  of  intangible  personalty, 
the  county  commissioners  instruct  the  assessors  as  follows:  "You 
will  deliver  to  each  taxable  person  one  of  the  blanks  furnished  you 
by  this  office,  upon  which  blank  the  taxable  person  shall  make  return 
of  the  aggregate  amount  of  moneys  owned  by  him  or  her,  and  made 
taxable  as  hereinbefore  enumerated  and  described,  as  well  as  all  other 
property  taxable  for  state  purposes.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  taxable 
person  to  make  the  return  as  hereinbefore  prescribed,  within  ten  days, 
with  his  or  her  affidavit  hereto  attached,  made  and  subscribed  to 
before  you,  and  in  case  any  taxable  person  shall  fail  or  refuse  to  make 
return  as  herein  required,  it  shall  be  your  duty  to  make  a  return  for 
such  taxable  person,  estimating  the  amount  from  the  best  information 


36  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

at  your  command, '  '3  and  add  to  this  a  penalty  of  fifty  per  cent.  The 
making  of  a  false  or  fraudulent  return  subjects  the  taxable  person  to 
"a  fine  of  $500.00,  imprisonment  not  exceeding  seven  years  and  per- 
petual disqualification  of  the  party  making  the  same  from  being  a 
witness."4  Any  person  making  a  false  return  is  declared  by  law  to 
be  "guilty  of  willful  and  corrupt  perjury"  who  upon  conviction 
' '  shall  be  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  not  exceeding  $500.00,  and  undergo 
an  imprisonment  by  separation  and  solitary  confinement  of  labor, 
not  exceeding  seven  years,  and  thereupon  be  forever  disqualified  from 
being  a  witness  in  any  matter  or  controversy."5  Assessors  are 
authorized  by  law  to  administer  the  oath  in  such  declarations  of  valu- 
ation of  intangible  personal  property. 

Inasmuch  as  the  method  for  assessment  of  personal  property  is 
prescribed  by  law,  and  specific  forms  are  furnished  for  the  declaration 
of  the  value  of  such  property  by  its  owners,  there  is  left  no  room  for 
the  introduction  of  divers  methods  by  the  assessors,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  assessment  of  real  estate.  For  this  reason  there  prevails  uniform- 
ity of  method  in  the  valuation  and  assessment  of  personal  property. 
The  only  possibility  of  departure  from  uniformity  is  in  the  degree 
of  exactness  and  accuracy  of  declaration  which  the  different  assessors 
require.  What  we  here  say  regarding  uniformity  of  method  applies 
only  to  intangible  personalty,  and  not  to  tangible  personal  property 
like  horses  and  cattle.  With  the  latter,  as  in  the  case  of  real  estate, 
the  method  of  assessment  varies  with  the  individual  assessor,  some 
making  careful  valuations  and  others  being  content  with  a  slipshod 
assessment. 
3.  The  basis6  of  assessment. 

Tangible  personalty  is  assessed  on  a  basis  of  from  less  than  fifty 
to  seventy  per  cent  of  the  true  or  exchange  value.  That  is,  a  horse 
which  would  bring  two  hundred  dollars  at  a  public  sale  is  assessed 
usually  at  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and 

3Precept  of  the  Commissioners  of  Delaware  County  to  the  Assessors 
of  the  Triennial  Assessment,  1915,  p.  1. 

*Laws  of  Pennsylvania,  Act  of  June  17,  1913,  p.  510. 

sLaws  of  Pennsylvania,  Act  of  June  17,  1913,  p.  510. 

«The  term  "basis"  is  used  here  in  the  same  sense  as  throughout  this 
survey,  namely,  as  referring  to  the  percentage  of  real  or  selling  value  at 
vhich  property  is  assessed. 


TAXATION  OP  PERSONAL  PROPERTY  37 

a  cow  which  would  sell  at  forty  dollars  is  assessed  at  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  dollars.    This  is  brought  out  more  in  detail  a  little  later. 

Intangible  personalty7  is  required,  like  all  other  property,  to  be 
assessed  at  full  valuation,  but  the  actual  valuations  are  made  by  the 
owners  of  such  property,  and  there  is  abundant  proof  that  many 
persons  assess  themselves  far  below  the  true  value  of  their  property. 
The  generally  recognized  weakness  of  the  personal  property  tax — the 
difficulty  in  securing  a  fair  and  full  assessment — is  prevalent  in 
Delaware  County.  Some  assessors  are  endeavoring  to  enforce  a  more 
just  and  complete  assessment  of  intangible  personalty.  Among  these 
are  Mr.  A  of  X  township  and  Mr.  B  of  Y  district.8  At  the  time  this 
information  was  gathered  Mr.  A  had  just  been  chosen  assessor,  so  no 
definite  information  can  be  given  as  to  his  success.  He  plans,  how- 
ever, to  find  out  what  amounts  of  intangible  personalty  are  owned  in 
his  district  and  how  much  of  it  has  escaped  taxation.  Mr.  B  has 
successfully  carried  out  his  plans  by  reading  very  carefully  the  mort- 
gage and  bond  book  in  the  county  court  house  located  in  Media.  By 
diligent  investigation  and  strict  enforcement  of  the  law,  Mr.  B.  in  a 
few  years  has  increased  the  assessment  of  intangible  personalty  in 
his  district  from  $13,000.00  to  $180,000.00.  In  telling  of  his  method 
this  assessor  related  an  incident  which  is  typical  of  many  that  occur. 
One  man  declared  that  he  had  no  moneys  at  interest  and  no  other 
evidences  of  wealth  to  be  taxed.  When  requested  to  state  this  under 
affidavit  the  person  in  question  admitted  he  had  a  little,  and  by  suc- 
cessive admissions  it  was  revealed  that  he  owned  money  at  interest  and 
mortgages  to  the  value  of  $40,000.00.  ,  These  cases  are  mentioned 
merely  to  show  that  much  intangible  personalty  escapes  taxation 
altogether.  The  work  of  Mr.  B  shows  also  the  possibility  of  enforcing 
the  law  and  increasing  the  assessment  of  personal  property. 
4.  The  tax  rate. 

In  accordance  with  the  Act  of  June  17,  1913,  which  made  taxable 
for  county  purposes  intangible  personal  property  previously  taxed 
for  state  purposes,  the  tax  rate  on  such  evidences  of  wealth  as  moneys 

7The  term  "Intangible  Personal  Property"  as  used  throughout  this  dis- 
cussion refers  to  moneys  at  interest,  mortgages,  and  similar  evidences  of 
wealth.  See  above,  p.  34. 

«As  stated  above,  p.  2,  real  names  of  persons  are  not  given  because 
information  was  received  in  confidence. 


38 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


at  interest,  bonds,  stocks,  etc.,  and  upon  tangible  personalty  such  as 
omnibuses,  cabs,  and  other  vehicles  for  hire  is  '  *  four  mills  on  each  dol- 
lar of  the  value  thereof."9  Horses  and  cattle  in  Delaware  County  are 
assessed  separately  from  the  foregoing  forms  of  personalty  and  are 
taxed  at  the  same  rates  that  obtain  in  the  various  boroughs,  town- 
ships and  wards  on  taxable  real  estate.  The  county  tax  rate,  with 
which  we  are  chiefly  concerned  here,  is  two  and  four-fifths  mills  on 
the  dollar,  and  this  applies  to  horses  and  cattle  as  well  as  to  real 
estate. 
5.  Assessed  valuation  of  all  personal  property  for  alternate  years, 

covering  the  period  from  1906  to  1916,  inclusive. 
(1)  The  tax  on  horses.  The  assessment  books  show  that  horses 
in  Delaware  County  are  assessed  anywhere  from  $25.00  to  $100.00. 
It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  exact  average  but  this  may  safely  be  put 
at  approximately  $59.00.  The  assessment  of  course  varies  with  the 
value  of  the  horse.  As  a  source  of  revenue  horses  have  been  of  very 
little  importance  in  the  revenue  system  of  the  county  and  the  as- 
sessed valuation  of  horses  has  decreased  during  the  last  ten  years. 
This  is  made  evident  in  the  following  table,  which  shows  the  assessed 
valuation  of  horses  for  alternate  years,  covering  the  period  1906  to 
1916  inclusive,  and  the  percentage  which  the  assessed  valuation  bears 
to  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable  property. 

Table  VIII.  Showing  the  assessed  valuation  of  horses,  the 
total  assessed  valuation  of  all  property,  the  percentage  which  the 
assessed  valuation  of  horses  bears  to  total  assessed  valuations,  from 
1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


Assessed 

Total  Assessed 

Percent.  Assessed  Val. 

Year 

Valuation  of 

Valuation  of  All 

of  Horses  Bears  to 

Horses 

Taxable  Property 

Total  Assessed  Vals. 

1906 

$367,096.00 

$64,665,418.33 

.57 

1908 

349,476.00 

78,199,001.75 

.51 

1910 

398,660.00 

91,724,977.89 

.44 

1912 

387,620.00 

92,135,974.50 

.42 

1914 

477,840.00 

110,203,611.42 

.43 

1916 

414,998.00 

119,730,329.28 

.35 

»Laws  of  Pennsylvania,  Act  of  June  17,  1913,  p.  508. 


TAXATION  OP  PERSONAL  PROPERTY 


The  statistics  in  the  above  table  show  that  although  the  actual 
assessed  valuation  of  horses  has  increased  quite  steadily  since  1906, 
the  relative  percentage  of  assessed  valuation  of  horses  has  decreased^ 
except  in  1914  when  it  advanced  slightly  beyond  the  percentage  for 
1912.  Assessors  seem  quite  lenient  in  the  assessment  of  horses,  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether  they  are  ever  assessed  at  their  true  value.  As  far 
as  we  are  able  to  ascertain  from  the  assessors  themselves,  and  from 
the  data  found  in  the  assessment  books,  horses  are  usually  assessed 
at  fifty  per  cent  of  their  true  value,  i.  e.  the  price  they  would  bring  at 
a.  public  sale  well  advertised.  A  horse  worth  $50.00  is  assessed  at 
$25.00  and  a  horse  worth  $100.00  is  assessed  at  $50.00.  Many  of  the 
more  scrupulous  assessors,  however,  assess  horses  and  cattle  on  the 
same  percentage  basis  as  real  estate,  namely,  seventy  per  cent  of  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  true  value.  In  1906  there  were  7,230  horses 
in  Delaware  County  assessed  at  $367,496.00  or  approximately  $50.00 
each,  and  in  1916  the  number  of  horses  was  6,509  and  their  assessed 
valuation  amounted  to  $414,998.00  or  an  average  of  about  $63.00.10 

The  amount  of  revenue  received  from  taxation  of  horses  is  shown 
in  the  following  table. 

Table  IX.  Showing  county  revenue  receipts  from  the  tax  on 
horses,  and  the  percentage  which  these  bear  to  the  total  revenue 
receipts  from  all  taxables  for  alternate  years  from  1906  to  1916  in- 
clusive. 


Revenue  Receipts 

Total  Revenue 

Percent,  which  Receipts 

Year 

from  Tax  on 

Receipts  from  All 

from  Horse  Tax  Bears 

Horses 

Taxable  Property 

to  the  Total  As.  Vals. 

1906 

$1,101.28 

$204,249.00 

.54 

1908 

1,048.42 

245,481.29 

.43 

1910 

1,195.98 

291,383.68 

.41 

1912 

1,162.86 

293,141.63 

.40 

1914 

1,337.95 

418,768.50 

.32 

1916 

1,161.99 

460,857.19 

.25 

ioFor  complete  statistics  on  this  subject  see  Table  XII,  p.  42. 


40 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OP  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  statistics  of  the  above  table  lead  to  the 
.same  conclusion  as  those  on  assessed  valuation  of  horses,  namely,  that 
since  1906  there  has  been  more  or  less  constancy  in  the  amounts  re- 
ceived from  taxation  of  horses,  but  a  gradual  decrease  in  the  percent- 
age of  the  tax  burden  borne  by  this  source.  In  1906  the  tax  011  horses 
amounted  to  .54  per  cent  of  the  total  receipts,  while  in  1916  it  was  only 
.25  per  cent  of  the  total. 

(2)  The  tax  on  cattle.  Whereas  Delaware  County  was  once 
quite  agricultural  it  is  now  predominantly  industrial.  This  transition 
from  agriculture  to  industry  constitutes  the  natural  cause  of  the  de- 
crease in  the  number  of  cattle  kept  throughout  the  county.  The  basis 
of  assessment  for  cattle  is  very  similar  to  that  for  horses  and  ranges 
between  fifty  and  seventy  per  cent  of  the  actual  value.  In  1906  the 
number  of  cattle  assessed  was  10,762  and  their  assessed  valuation 
amounted  to  $265,085.00,  or  approximately  $25.00  each,  and  in  1916 
there  were  7,128  cattle,  assessed  at  $220,700.00,  or  an  average  of 
$31.00.11  The  assessed  valuation  of  cattle  for  alternate  years  during 
the  period  1906  to  1916  is  given  in  the  table  below,  together  with  the 
percentage  which  the  assessed  valuation  of  cattle  bears  to  the  total 
assessed  valuations. 

Table  X.  Showing  the  assessed  valuation  of  cattle,  the  total 
assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable  property,  and  the  percentage  which 
the  assessed  valuation  of  cattle  bears  to  the  total  assessed  valuations, 
for  alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


Assessed 

Total  Assessed 

Percent.  Assessed  Val. 

Year 

Valuation  of 

Valuation  of  All 

of  Cattle  Bears  to 

Cattle 

Taxable  Property 

Total  Assessed  Vals. 

1906 

$265,085.00 

$64,665,418.33 

.41 

1908 

221,860.00 

78,199,001.75 

.48 

1910 

243,505.00 

91,724,977.89 

.27 

1912 

215,914.00 

92,135,974.50 

.23 

1   914 

216,095.00 

110,203,611.42 

.20 

916 

220,700.00 

119,730,329.28 

.18 

"For   complete   statistics   on   average    assessed    valuation    see    Table 
XIII,  p.  43. 


TAXATION  OP -PERSONAL  PROPERTY 


41 


It  will  be  seen  that  there  has  been  a  steady  decrease  in  the  as- 
sessed valuation  of  cattle  from  1906  to  1916,  also  that  this  decrease 
has  been  actual,  being  $265,085.00  in  1906,  or  .41  of  the  total  assessed 
valuation  of  taxable  property  for  that  year,  while  in  1916  the  assessed 
valuation  of  cattle  was  only  $220,700.00,  or  .18  of  the  total  for  the 
year.  The  actual  number  of  assessed  cattle  decreased  from  10,762  in 
1906  to  7,128  in  1916,  while  the  average  assessed  valuation  increased 
from  $25.00  in  1906  to  $31.00  in  1916.  This  increase  in  the  average 
assessed  valuation  of  cattle  is  due  in  all  probability  to  the  fact  that 
there  has  been  a  rapid  increase^in  the  actual  price  of  cattle  throughout 
the  United  States  during  the  past  ten  or  fifteen  years.  In  1900  there 
were  67,719,410  cattle  in  the  United  States  valued  at  $1,475,204,633. 
00,  or  an  average  value  of  $21.78,  while  in  1910  the  number  of  cattle 
was  only  61,803,866  valued  at  $1,499,523,607.00  or  an  average  value 
of  $24.26.12 

The  actual  amounts  of  revenue  received  from  taxation  of  cattle 
are  presented  in  the  table  below. 

Table  XI.  Showing  county  revenue  receipts  from  taxation  of 
cattle,  and  the  percentage  these  bear  to  the  total  receipts  from  all 
taxables,  for  alternate  years  during  the  period  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


Revenue  Receipts 

Total  Revenue 

Percent,  which  Receipts 

Year 

from  Tax  on 

Receipts  from  All 

from  Cattle  Tax  Bears 

Cattle 

Taxable  Property 

to  the  Total  As.  Vals. 

1906 

$795.25 

$204,249.50 

.39 

1908 

665.58 

245,481.29 

.27 

1910 

730.51 

291,383.68 

.25 

1912 

647.74 

293,141.63 

.22 

1914 

605.06 

418,768.50 

.14 

1916 

617.96 

460,857.19 

.13 

The  statistics  of  the  above  table  show  that  the  revenue  received 
from  taxation  of  cattle  for  alternate  years  covering  the  period  1906 
to  1916  gradually  decreased,  so  that  in  1916  the  revenue  receipts  were 


12 Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  1910,  p.  314. 


42 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA 


less  by  $177.29  than  those  of  1906.  We  have  already  pointed  out  the 
conditions  responsible  for  this  decline.  They  are,  (a)  the  general 
increase  of  manufacturing  industries  and  decrease  of  agriculture 
throughout  the  county  during  the  past  decade  and,  (b)  the  careless- 
ness that  characterizes  the  assessment  of  cattle  and  other  tangible 
personal  property. 

(3)     Assessed  valuation  of  horses  and  cattle  further  considered. 

Table  XII.  Showing  the  number  of  horses  assessed,  the  total 
assessed  valuation  and  the  average  assessed  valuation  for  Delaware 
County,  and  the  price  per  head  for  horses  in  the  United  States,  for 
alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


Number  of 

Total  Assessed 

Average 

Price  per  Head 

Year 

Horses 

Valuation  of 

Assessed 

for  Horses  in  the 

Assessed 

Horses 

Valuation 

United  States13 

1906 

7,230 

$367,096.00 

$50.77 

$  80.72 

1908 

6,793 

349,476.00 

51.43 

93.41 

1910 

7,409 

398,660.00 

53.80 

108.03 

1912 

6,672 

387,620.00 

58.09 

105.94 

1914 

7,325 

477,840.00 

65.23 

109.32 

1916 

6,509 

414,998.00 

63.75 

101.60 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  statistics  that  the  number  of 
horses  assessed  in  Delaware  County  has  not  varied  much  in  ten  years ; 
that  both  the  total  assessed  valuation  and  the  average  assessed  valua- 
tion increased  steadily,  except  for  1916  when  they  showed  a  decrease. 
The  number  of  horses  assessed  likewise  decreased  in  that  year.  The 
advance  in  the  average  assessed  valuation  of  horses"  in  the  county 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  increase  in  the  selling  price  for  the 
United  States,  or,  by  a  higher  percentage  basis  of  assessment  in  the 
county,  or  both.  Knowing  the  inefficiency  of  the  assessment  system 
of  Delaware  County,  we  believe  the  increase  is  due  largely  to  the 
former  cause. 


"Statistics  in  this  column  are  taken  from  the  Yearbook  ol  the  U.  S, 
Dept.  of  Agriculture,  1916,  p.  666. 


TAXATION  OF  PERSONAL  PROPERTY 


43 


Table  XIII.  Showing  the  number  of  cattle  assessed,  total  as- 
sessed valuation  and  the  average  assessed  valuation  for  Delaware 
County,  and  the  price  per  head  for  cattle  in  the  United  States,  for 
alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


Number  of 

Total  Assessed 

Average 

Price  per  Head 

Year 

Cattle 

Valuation  of 

Assessed 

for  Cattle  in  the 

Assessed 

Cattle 

Valuation 

United  States14 

1906 

10,762 

$265,085.00 

$24.63 

$29.44 

1908 

10,966 

221,860.00 

20.23 

30.67 

1910 

9,744 

243,505.00 

24.99 

35.29 

1912 

8,435 

215,914.00 

25.59 

39.39 

1914 

7,737 

216,095.00 

27.93 

53.94 

1916 

7,128 

220,700.00 

30.96 

53.92 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  number  of  cattle  assessed  has  decreased 
steadily  since  1908;  that  the  total  assessed  valuation  has  fluctuated; 
that  the  average  assessed  valuation  has  increased  gradually.  The  ex- 
planation of  the  gradual  increase  in  the  average  assessed  valuation 
o£  cattle,  with  which  we  are  chiefly  concerned  here,  may  be  found 
either  in  the  fact  of  rapid  increase  in  the  selling  price  in  the  United 
States  or  in  a  higher  percentage  basis  of  assessment  in  Delaware 
County,  or  both.  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  first  of  these  two 
causes  has  contributed  more  largely  to  this  result.15 

(4)  Tax  on  vehicles  for  hire.  It  might  be  expected  in  this  day 
of  increasing  use  of  the  means  of  transportation  such  as  the  ''jitney 
bus"  and  "taxi"  that  considerable  revenue  should  be  drawn  from 
this  source.  Such  is  not  the  case,  however,  in  Delaware  County,  where 
this  source  of  revenue  is  so  insignificant  that  it  is  scarcely  thought 
of  as  a  means  of  augmenting  the  revenue  fund.  As  one  county 
official  stated,  "We  derive  very  little  financial  aid  from  this  source." 

The  lack  of  revenue  from  vehicles  for  hire  may  be  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  county  is  well  supplied  with  railroads  and  electric 

^Statistics  in  this  column  are  taken  from  the  Yearbook  of  the  U.  S. 
Dept.  of  Agriculture,  1916,  p.  671. 

i^This  opinion  is  based  on  our  knowledge  of  the  inefficiency  of  the 
assessment  system  in  Delaware  County.  See  Chapters  II  and  III. 


44  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

trolley  lines  that  make  possible  easy  and  frequent  transportation  from 
any  part  of  the  county  to  another.  Some  assessors,  however,  stated 
that  they  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  this  source  of  revenue  because 
they  believed  it  so  insignificant.16  Just  how  much  revenue  has  accrued 
from  this  source  may  be  seen  from  the  table  below,  which  gives  the  as- 
sessed valuation  of  all  such  vehicles  for  hire  for  the  alternate  years 
covering  the  period  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 

Table  XIV.  Showing  the  assessed  valuation  of  omnibuses,  hacks, 
cabs,  and  other  vehicles  for  hire  for  alternate  years  during  the  period 
1906  to  1916  inclusive. 

Assessed  Valuation  of 
Year  Vehicles  for  Hire 

1906 .  . . .  .' $8,450.00 

1908 4,800.00 

1910 9,675.00 

1912 4,700.00 

1914 7,450.00 

1916 1,875.00 

It  is  quite  apparent  from  the  above  table  that  vehicles  for  hire 
yield  very  little  revenue.  In  1916,  according  to  the  assessors'  books, 
the  following  were  the  only  districts  to  show  returns  for  this  class 
of  taxable  property:  City  of  Chester,  $500;  Darby  borough,  $600; 
Lansdowne  borough,  $500;  Morton  borough,  $75;  and  Swarthmore 
borough,  $500,  making  a  total  valuation  of  only  $1875. 
(5)  Taxation  of  moneys  at  interest  and  other  evidences  of  wealth. 

Previous  to  the  year  1913  such  intangible  personal  property  as 
money  at  interest,  mortgages,  bonds,  articles  of  agreement,  stocks, 
etc.  were  subject  to  taxation  for  state  purposes,  although  three-fourths 
of  the  revenue  derived  therefrom  was  returned  to  the  counties  to 
relieve  the  burden  of  local  taxation.17  But  pursuant  to  the  Act  of  June 
17,  1913,  these  forms  of  intangible  personalty  are  now  taxed  solely 
for  county  purposes.  Under  section  17  of  this  Act  there  is  still  taxed 
for  state  purposes  certain  scrip,  bonds,  certificates  of  indebtedness 
issued  by  private  corporations  incorporated  or  created  under  the  laws 

i«We  were  unable  to  find  any  statistics,  except  the  few  gwen  in  the 
assessment  books,  as  to  the  number  of  vehicles  for  hire  operating  in  Dela- 
ware County. 

of  Pennsylvania,  1913,  Act  of  June  17,  1913,  p.  507. 


TAXATION  OP  PERSONAL  PROPERTY 


45 


of  Pennsylvania  or  any  other  state,  and  those  issued  by  any  county, 
city,  borough,  township,  school  district  or  incorporated  district  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  but  all  of  the  revenue  derived 
from  taxation  of  all  other  intangible  personalty  now  goes  to  the 
counties. 

Although  intangible  personalty  was  previous  to  1913  a  source  of 
state  revenue,  with  which  we  are  not  primarily  concerned  here,  it  will, 
nevertheless,  be  interesting  to  note  for  comparative  purposes  what 
share  of  the  assessments  fall  upon  this  class  of  property.  This  we 
have  done  for  the  alternate  years  of  the  last  decade.  In  order  that 
a  comparison  of  intangible  personalty  may  be  made  with  other  kinds 
of  property  as  a  source  of  revenue  we  give  below  statistics  which  show 
the  proportion  of  assessments  that  have  fallen  upon  moneys  at  interest 
and  other  evidences  of  wealth. 

Table  XV.  Showing  the  assessed  valuation  of  intangible  person- 
al property  and  the  percentage  which  this  bears  to  the  total  assessed 
valuation  of  all  taxable  property  for  alternate  years  from  1906  to 
1916  inclusive. 


Assessed  Valuation 

Total  Assessed 

Percent,  which  Intangible 

Year 

of  Intangible 

Valuation  of  All 

Personalty  Bears  to 

Personalty 

Taxable  Property 

Total  Assessed  Valuations 

1906 

$  9,804,795.33 

$  64,665,418.33 

15.1 

1908 

10,870,254.75 

78,199,001.75 

13.9 

1910 

16,266,501.89 

91,724,977.89 

17.7 

1912 

18,327,245.20 

92,135,979.50 

19.9 

1914 

23,124,084.42 

110,203,611.42 

20.9 

1916 

22,245,310.28 

119,730,329.28 

18.6 

The  above  statistics  indicate  that  the  percentage  of  the  assessed 
valuation  of  intangible  personal  property  has  increased  in  proportion 
to  the  assessed  valuation  of  all  other  taxable  property.  It  should  be 
noted  that  for  the  alternate  years  given  since  this  became  a  source  of 
county  revenue — 1914  and  1916 — the  assessed  valuation  of  intangible 
personalty  was  $23,124,084.42  and  $22,245,310.38  respectively,  show- 
ing an  increase  of  $5,796,839.22  in  1914  over  1912,  but  a  decrease  of 


46 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


$874,774.14  in  1916  from  that  of  1914.  The  increase  of  approximately 
six  million  dollars  in  the  valuation  of  intangible  personalty  within 
a  period  of  four  years  may  be  due  to  one  or  two  causes.  There  is, 
first,  the  probability  that  there  was  an  actual  increase  in  the  amount 
of  the  various  evidences  of  wealth  from  1912  to  1916,  and,  second,  the 
fact  cited  in  the  previous  pages,  that  when  the  revenue  from  this 
source  was  in  1913  turned  over  entirely  to  the  counties  the  assessors 
became  more  diligent  and  exacting  in  demanding  true  valuations. 
That  the  tax  on  intangible  personal  property  is  a  source  of  large 
amounts  of  revenue,  and  promises  to  yield  even  greater  returns,  may 
be  seen  by  the  annual  receipts  presented  in  the  table  below. 

Table  XVI.  Showing  revenue  receipts  from  intangible  personal 
property,  and  the  percentage  these  bear  to  the  total  receipts  from  all 
taxables  for  alternate  years  during  the  period  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


1 

Revenue  Receipts 

Total  Receipts        |  Percent,  which  Tax  on  In- 

Year 

from  Tax  on 

from  All 

tangible  Personalty  Bears 

Intangible  Personalty 

Taxable  Property 

to  Total  Tax  Receipts 

1906 

$39,219.18 

$204,249.50 

19.2 

1908 

43,481.01 

245,481.29 

17.7 

1910 

65,066.00 

291,383.68 

22.3 

1912 

73,308.98 

293,141.63 

25.0 

1914 

92,496.33 

418,768.50 

22.0 

1916 

88,981.24 

460,857.19 

19.3 

These  statistics  show  that  the  tax  on  money  at  interest  and  other 
evidences  of  wealth  more  than  doubled  its  yield  of  revenue  during 
ten  years,  increasing  from  $39,219.18  in  1906  to  $88,981.24  in  1916, 
while  the  relative  share  of  the  burden  of  taxation  borne  by  this 
source  of  revenue  jumped  from  19.2  in  1906  to  22.0  in  1914.  As 
stated  before,  the  personal  property  tax  became  completely  a  county 
tax  in  1913.  Since  that  year  the  annual  revenue  from  this  source 
has  increased  about  nineteen  thousand  dollars.  In  1916,  the  actual 
amount  received  dropped  approximately  four  thousand  dollars.  The 
cause  of  this  decrease  is  found,  in  all  probability,  in  the  declaration 
of  false  valuations  by  the  owners  of  intangible  personalty.  The  care- 


TAXATION  OF  PERSONAL  PROPERTY  47 

lessness  of  some  assessors  may  be  partly  to  blame  for  this  decline,  but 
many  assessors  are  making  greater  rather  than  less  effort  to  secure 
correct  and  full  valuations. 
6.     Conclusions. 

(1)  As  to  the  method  and  basis  of  assessment.     There  is  no 
doubt  that  a  closer  assessment  of  horses  and  cattle  should  and  could 
be  made  and  a  higher  percentage  basis  of  valuation  used.     There  is 
no  reason  why  these  forms  of  personal  property  should  be  assessed 
at  less  than  one-half  their  true  value.     The  suggestion  which  we  of- 
fered earlier  regarding  real  estate  applies  with  equal  emphasis  to 
tangible  personalty,  namely,  that  every  assessor  should  be  required 
to  assess  such  property  at  its  true  valuation,  or  one  hundred  per  cent. 
Although  a  large  increase  in  revenue  from  taxation  of  horses  and 
cattle  can  hardly  be  expected  because  of  the  increasing  industrial 
and  decreasing  agricultural  life  of  the  county,  nevertheless  a  greater 
revenue  than  is  now  being  received  could  be  derived  from  this  source 
if  closer  assessments  were  made. 

(2)  In  the  limited  time  allowed  them  for  making  their  assess- 
ments many  assessors  find  it  impossible  to  engage  in  any  independent 
and  careful  investigation  into  the  ownership  of  intangible  personalty 
among  the  constituents  of  their  districts. 

(3)  It  was  seen  that  the  actual  number  of  horses  and  cattle 
assessed  in  Delaware  County  has  decreased  during  the  last  ten  years, 
the  decrease  being  more  accentuated  in  the  case  of  cattle ;  that  while 
the  total  assessed  valuations  for  the  alternate  years  showed  a  steady 
decline  the  average  assessed  valuations  of  cattle  increased ;  in  the  case 
of  horses  both  the  total  assessed  valuations  and  the  average  assessed 
valuations  increased.    These  increases  were  due,  in  our  opinion,  more 
to  the  fact  of  the  general  increase  in  value  of  horses  and  cattle  in  the 
United  States  than  to  any  improvement  in  methods  of  assessment. 

(4)  It  is  doubtful  if  the  tax  on  vehicles  for  hire  can  be  made 
to  yield  a  much  larger  return  than  at  present.    Although  observation 
warrants  the  conclusion  that  much  of  this  kind  of  personalty  escapes 
taxation,  the  need  for  vehicles  for  hire  in  Delaware  County  is  almost 
negligible,  due  to  the  network  of  electric  lines.     For  this  reason  the 
business  of  transferring  passengers  by  means  of  taxicabs,  etc.  prom- 
ises no  rapid  development. 


48  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OP  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

(5)  Intangible  personalty  constitutes  a  more  difficult  problem, 
due  to  the  necessity  of  relying  upon  the  honesty  of  the  owners  for  a 
truthful  and  complete  valuation.  It  can  hardly  be  hoped  that  owners 
of  intangible  personalty  will  assess  themselves  justly  unless  the  people 
of  Delaware  County  are  of  a  different  type  from  those  in  other  com- 
munities. So  there  is  need  for  very  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law  and 
careful  examination  of  returned  personal  property  blanks.  Where 
there  is  any  doubt  of  the  accuracy)  of  such  valuations,  the  assessor 
should  bring  to  bear  upon  the  property  owner  the  full  pressure  of  the 
law.  All  of  the  assessors,  by  following  the  example  of  those  men- 
tioned in  the  earlier  pages  of  this  chapter,  in  making  a  very  careful 
search  into  the  ownership  of  money  at  interest,  mortgages,  bonds, 
stocks,  et  cetera,  in  their  districts  might  increase  the  revenue  receipts 
considerably.  That  this  can  be  done  is  clearly  demonstrated  by  the 
success  of  the  assessor  formerly  mentioned  who  increased  his  receipts 
from  this  source  appreciably  during  the  first  few  years  of  the  tenure 
of  his  office.18 

p.  37. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MISCELLANEOUS  SOURCES  OF  REVENUE 

1.     The  occupation  tax. 

(1)  Occupations   subject   to  taxation.     Besides  the   real   and 
personal  property  described  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  survey,  there 
are  subject  to  taxation  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  "all  salaries  and 
emoluments  of  office ;  all  offices  and  posts  of  profit,  professions,  trades 
and  occupations    (except  the  occupation  of  farmer)  ;  and  also  all 
single  men  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  who  do  not  follow  any 
calling  or  occupation. '  '19    In  Delaware  County  at  least  it  is  the  general 
practice  not  to  tax  occupations  of  women,  although  there  is  current 
a  belief  that  women  who  own  property  are  taxed  on  a  higher  percent- 
age basis  than  men,  because  they  are  unable  to  injure  the  assessors  at 
the  polls.    The  tax  is  generally  known  as  the  "occupation  tax"  and, 
although  commonly  condemned  as  a  failure,  has  the  virtue  of  reaching 
those  citizens  who  own  no  property. 

(2)  Schedule  of  assessments  and  classes  of  occupations.    There  is 
issued  to  the  assessors  upon  entering  the  duties  of  assessment  a  sched- 
ule of  assessments  for  the  various  classes  of  occupations.    While  this 
schedule  by  no  means  indicates  the  great  number  of  minor  callings 
which  are  subject  to  taxation,  it  nevertheless  outlines  in  a  general 
way  what  professions  and  occupations  are  required  to  pay  the  tax. 
The  official  list  given  by  the  commissioners  to  the  assessors  reads  as 
follows  : 

Schedule  of  Assessments  and  Classes  of  Occupations. 

Laborers,  including  mill  operatives,  assessed  at $100 

Mechanics,  including  foremen  in  mill,  assessed  at 150 

Clergymen,  assessed  at   200 

Lawyers,  assessed  at    300 

Doctors,  including  veterinary  surgeons,   assessed  at 300 

Bankers  and  Brokers,  assessed  at 300 

Clerks,  including  salesmen,   assessed  at 150 

Teachers,  assessed  at  200 

Merchants,   assessed   at    200 

Manufacturers,   assessed   at    500 

"Precept  of  the  Commissioners  of  Delaware  County  to  the  Assessors 
for  the  Triennial  Assessment,  1915,  p.  1. 


50 


REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 


Schedule  of  Assessments  and  Classes  of  Occupations  (continued) 

Offices  of  Profit,  assessed  at 200 

Editors,  assessed  at  200 

Civil  Engineers  and  Surveyors,  assessed  at 200 

Gentlemen  (persons  who  are  taxable  but  without  occupation),  assessed 
at    100 

Many  persons  are  taxed  and  returned  as  "Retired,"  "Invalid," 
and  "Gent,"  all  of  whom  are  assessed  on  the  basis  of  one  hundred 
dollars. 

(3)  Inequality  in  assessment.  There  are  many  evidences  of 
inequality  and  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  method  and  basis  of  assess- 
ment followed  by  the  various  assessors  throughout  the  county.  This 
absence  of  uniformity  is  true  not  only  of  the  different  townships, 
boroughs  and  wards  but  often  obtains  in  the  same  district,  each  as- 
sessor using  a  different  basis  of  assessment  for  the  same  occupations. 
This  is  made  clear  in  the  following  schedule  of  assessments  as  listed 
in  the  assessment  books  for  1916. 

Schedule  of  assessments  required  by  law,  and  the  assessment 
bases  followed  by  the  various  assessors,  showing  a  lack  of  uniformity 
in  basis  for  the  same  occupations. 


Occupations 

Legal 
Assessment 
Basis 

Actual 
Assessment 
Basis 

Teacher    .                       ... 

$200 

$150,  $150,  $200,  $150,  etc. 

Engineer 

200 

150,     150,    200,    200,  etc 

Merchant  

200 

300,    200,    200,     300,  etc. 

Manufacturer  

500 

500,    200,    300,     500,  etc. 

Conductor 

100 

100,    200,    200,     100,  etc. 

Student 

100 

150,     150,     150,     100,  etc. 

Chauffeur  

100 

150,     100,     150,     150,  etc. 

Contractor  

150 

150,    200,     300,    300,  etc. 

The  above  list  could  be  extended  to  a  great  many  other  occupa- 
tions, but  those  given  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  same  vocations 
are  assessed  on  different  bases  in  the  various  parts  of  the  county. 

(4)  The  tax  rate.  The  county  tax  rate  on  occupations  is  the 
same  as  that  on  real  estate,  namely,  two  and  four-fifths  mills  on  the 


MISCELLANEOUS  SOURCES  OP  REVENUE 


51 


dollar.  This  means  that  the  general  average  county  tax  on  occupa- 
tions amounts  to  twenty-eight  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars.. 
Inasmuch  as  the  majority  of  persons  paying  the  occupation  tax  are 
classified  as  laborers,  who  are  taxed  on  the  basis  of  $100,  the  county 
derives  small  revenue  from  this  source.  Local  tax  rates  are  higher, 
ranging  from  eleven  to  twenty-seven  mills,20  so  that  localities  derive 
considerable  revenue  from  taxation  of  occupations,  when  complete 
and  accurate  assessments  are  made. 

(5)  The  occupation  tax  as  a  source  of  revenue.  As  in  the  case 
of  other  sources  of  revenue,  we  made  a  study  of  occupations  with  re- 
gard to  their  share  in  the  county  tax  burden  during  the  past  ten 
years.  Our  results  are  incorporated  in  the  following  tables. 

Table  XVII.  Showing  the  assessed  valuation  of  occupations,  and 
the  percentage  which  this  bears  to  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all 
taxable  property,  for  alternate  years  covering  the  period  1906  to  1916 
inclusive. 


Assessed 

Total  Assessed 

Percent.  Assessed  Val. 

Year 

Valuation  of 

Valuation  of  All 

of  Occupations  Bears  to 

Occupations 

Taxable  Property 

Total  Assessed  Vals. 

1906 

$3,119,130.00 

$  64,665,418.33 

4.8 

1908 

2,837,000.00 

78,199,001.75 

3.6 

1910 

4,241,075.00 

91,724,977.89 

4.6 

1912 

3,362,475.00 

92,135,974.50 

3.6 

1914 

3,960,820.00 

110,203,611.42 

3.6 

1916 

4,195,450.00 

119,730,329.28 

3.5 

p.  19. 


52  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

Table  XVIII.  Showing  revenue  receipts  from  occupation  tax, 
the  total  receipts  from  all  taxable  property,  and  the  percentage  which 
occupation  tax  receipts  bear  to  the  total  assessed  valuations  for 
alternate  years  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 


Revenue  Receipts 

Total  Revenue 

Percent,  which 

Year 

from  Occupation 

Receipts  from  All 

Occupation  Tax 

Tax 

Taxable  Property 

Bears  to  the  Total 

Assessed  Vals. 

1906 

$  9,357.39 

$204,249.50 

4.6 

1908 

8,511.00 

245,481.29 

3.5 

1910 

12,723.22 

291,383.68 

4.4 

1912 

10,087.42 

293,141.63 

3.4 

1914 

11,090.29 

418,768.50 

2.6 

1916 

11,747.26 

460,857.19 

2.5 

As  in  the  case  of  other  taxes  it  will  be  observed  that  the  tax  on 
occupations  tends  to  fluctuate,  but  that  the  percentage  which  assessed 
valuation  of  occupations  bears  to  the  aggregate  assessed  valuation  of 
all  taxable  property  has  remained  more  or  less  constant,  being  4.8  at 
the  beginning  of  the  ten  year  period  and  3.5  at  its  close.  The  assessed 
valuation  of  occupations  advanced  from  $3,119,130.00  in  1906  to 
$4,195,450.00  in  1916,  or  an  increase  of  only  $1,076,320.00  in  ten 
years.  The  year  1910  shows  a  greater  assessed  valuation  of  occupa- 
tions than  any  alternate  year  since  then.  This  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand or  explain  in  view  of  the  increasing  industrialism  and  the 
rapidly  growing  population  of  the  county.21  With  an  increasing 
number  of  occupations  one  would  naturally  expect  an  increase  in 
revenue  from  this  source.  The  only  explanation  we  were  given  by 
persons  connected  with  the  tax  machinery  was  that  of  carelessness 
and  indifference  in  assessments. 

Revenue  receipts  from  the  occupation  tax  increased  from  $9,357.- 
39  in  1906  to  $11,747.26  in  1916,  or  only  $2,389.87  in  ten  years.  In 
1906  the  revenue  from  this  source  constituted  4.6  of  the  total  receipts 
from  all  taxable  property,  while  in  1916  it  was  only  2.5  of  the  total. 
The  latter  fact  is  due  not  to  any  decline  in  receipts  from  occupations, 


2iSee  p.  21. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SOURCES  OP  REVENUE  53 

but  to  the  change  which  took  place  in  1913  when  intangible  personal 
property  became  entirely  a  source  of  county  revenue.  Nevertheless, 
the  relative  burden  of  taxation  borne  by  occupations  was  one  per 
cent  less  in  1912,  before  the  above  change  was  introduced,  than  it  was. 
in  1910,  which  shows  that  the  tendency  of  occupations  is  to  yield 
a  relatively  decreasing  return  of  revenue. 

(6)  Defects  of  the  occupation  tax.  Many  of  the  assessors  and 
officials  whom  we  interviewed  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  occupation 
tax  is  in  many  respects  a  failure.  It  is  estimated  by  those  who  are  in 
close  touch  with  the  county  tax  returns  that  about  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
occupation  tax  in  the  city  of  Chester  is  returned  as  uncollectable, 
and  about  thirty-five  per  cent  is,  so  returned  from  the  other  tax 
districts  of  the  county.  Several  assessors  emphatically  declared  that 
"the  trouble  with  the  occupation  tax  is  that  people  will  not  pay  it, 
and  the  tax  collectors  take  the  easiest  way  out  by  reporting  delin- 
quents as  'exonerated'  ".-2  It  should  be  understood,  however,  that 
the  tax  collector  has  no  such  power  to  grant  exoneration  or  exemption 
from  the  payment  of  taxes,  but  that  he  requests  the  county  com- 
missioners to  relieve  him  of  the  responsibility  of  collecting  these  de- 
linquent taxes.  There  is  apparently  no  very  great  difficulty  in  se- 
curing compliance  with  this  request,  for  the  commissioners  realize 
that  the  collectors  have  attempted  to  collect  the  tax  before  submitting 
the  cases  for  exoneration. 

As  explained  above,  the  county  tax  on  occupations  amounts  to 
only  twenty-eight  cents  on  each  one-hundred  dollars  of  assessed  val- 
uation of  any  occupation  or  profession,  and  is  therefore  hardly  worth 
dodging,  yet  a  great  many  persons  seek  to  evade  it.  The  penalty 
for  such  evasion  is  the  loss  of  the  privilege  of  voting.  It  is  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  most  foreigners  and  negroes23  as  well  as  to  the  large 

22The  term  "exoneration"  is  applied  to  the  practice  of  freeing  persons 
from  payment  of  taxes.  When  it  proves  difficult  or  impossible  to  collect 
a  tax  the  collectors  request  to  be  freed  from  the  responsibility  for  its  col- 
lection. Exoneration  is  granted  only  by  the  county  commissioners.  For 
a  discussion  of  the  subject  of  exoneration  see  p.  66  ff. 

saForeigners  and  negroes  tend  to  constitute  a  growing  percentage  of 
the  population.  The  establishment  of  munition  factories  throughout  the 
county  has  caused  a  marked  increase  in  the  immigration  of  negroes  from 
southern  states.  This  immigration  is  so  pronounced  that  better  race 
prejudice  is  evidenced,  and  race  rioting  has  resulted. 


54  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

number  of  native  whites  whether  or  not  they  enjoy  the  right  of  fran- 
•chise,  so  the  penalty  provided  by  the  law  does  not  really  stimulate 
the  payment  of  the  tax.  Thanks  to  the  vigilance  of  the  predominant 
political  parties,  however,  the  law  is  strictly  enforced  at  this  point, 
for  on  the  day  of  election  these  party  enthusiasts  watch  the  voters 
very  closely  and  do  not  hesitate  to  question  the  legality  of  the  votes 
cast  by  their  opponents.  Frequent  reference  is  made  to  the  list  of 
those  who  are  reported  delinquent  in  tax  payments.  The  efficacy  of 
this  vigilance  is  more  apparent  than  real,  according  to  a  belief  current 
among  assessors  and  officials,  for  on  the  approach  of  election  many  de- 
linquent taxes  are  paid,  in  all  probability  not  by  the  assessed  person 
~but  by  those  interested  in  his  vote.24  Those  who  oppose  the  occupation 
tax  because  of  its  failure  wish  to  substitute  for  it  a  direct  poll  tax 
of  one  dollar  levied  on  each  citizen  entitled  to  the  right  of  suffrage. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  at  this  point  that  the  dissatisfaction  with  the 
occupation  tax  which  is  so  apparent  in  Delaware  County  prevails 
throughout  the  state,  and  "  there  appears  to  be  a  tendency  to  change 
these  taxes  into  a  uniform  poll  tax,  more  especially  for  school  pur- 
poses."25 
2.  The  dog  tax. 

(1)  Method  of  assessment  and  collection.  Previous  to  the  year 
1915  all  dogs  subject  to  taxation  were  assessed  by  the  real  estate  as- 
sessors in  the  various  wards,  boroughs,  and  townships  of  the  county 
and  the  tax  was  collected  by  the  several  tax  collectors  in  these  dis- 
tricts. The  State  Legislature  in  1915,  however,  amended  previous 
laws  relative  to  the  taxation  of  dogs,  and  pursuant  to  these  amend- 
ments the  duty  of  assessing  and  collecting  the  dog  tax  was  transferred 
from  the  tax  collector  to  the  assessors.26 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  new  law  the  county  commissioners 
furnish  annually  to  the  several  assessors  of  the  county  metal  tags 

2*Frequent  expression  of  this  opinion  led  us  to  search  f°r  evidence 
of  its  validity,  but  we  were  unsuccessful  in  getting  anything  more  than 
opinions.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  these  statements  were  made  by  persons 
•who  are  striving  to  enhance  the  efficiency  of  the  tax  system  we  attach  a 
great  deal  of  importance  to  them. 

23United  States  Census  Special  Report  on  Wealth,  DeDt,  an^  Taxation, 
1913,  Vol.  I,  p.  635. 

26Laws  of  Pa.,  1915,  Act  of  June  3,  pp.  719-796. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SOURCES  OF  REVENUE  55. 

which  the  assessors  give  to  the  owners  of  taxed  dogs  when  the  license 
fee  is  paid.  At  the  time  of  payment  of  this  license  fee  the  assessors 
also  furnish  the  dog  owners  a  "license  receipt"  which  bears  the 
serial  number  corresponding  with  the  metal  tag..  The  license  tag- 
is  stamped  for  the  calendar  year  for  which  it  is  issued  and  its  shape 
must  be  changed  from  year  to  year.  In  case  the  owner  of  the  dog^ 
loses  said  tag  the  county  commissioners  furnish  a  new  one  free  of 
charge.27  In  all  cases  the  law  requires  that  the  metal  tag  be  attached 
to  the  collar  worn  by  the  dog. 

During  their  assessment  of  other  forms  of  property,  the  assessors 
inquire  as  to  the  number  of  dogs  owned,  or  kept  by  each  assessed 
person,  and  if  any  dogs  are  found  on  the  premises  the  owners  must 
pay  immediately  to  the  assessor  the  license  fee  which  has  been  fixed 
by  the  county  commissioners.  The  assessors  publish  a  list  of  the  as- 
sessed dogs  in  one  or  more  county  papers  of  general  circulation.  The 
name  and  address  of  the  owrner,  the  sex  of  the  dog  and  the  number  of 
the  tag  are  the  details  published.  If,  after  examining  the  list,  any 
reputable  citizen  knowing  any  dogs  not  assessed  can  complain  to  the 
county  commissioners  who  investigate  the  validity!  of  the  complaint 
and  carry  out  the  penalty  provided  by  law.  We  learned  from  the  as- 
sessors that  such  complaints  are  frequent.  When  the  assessors  have 
completed  their  reports  the  commissioners  call  on  the  constables  to 
kill  all  dogs  not  wearing  the  license  tag  after  the  termination  of  thirty 
days'  notice  in  one  or  more  newspapers.  The  killing  of  dogs  without 
notice  has  often  resulted  in  litigation,  according  to  the  statements 
of  assessors  and  tax  collectors.  The  constable  is  paid  $1.00  for  each 
dog  he  kills  and  if  he  fails  to  carry  out  his  duty  in  this  respect  he  is 
fined  $2.00  for  each  dog  which  he  neglects  to  kill.  No  dog,  however, 
is  killed  if  any  authorized  agent  of  a  humane  society  offers  to  dispense 
with  it  in  some  other  way.  Like  the  constables,  the  assessors  who  fail 
in  their  duty  of  assessing  dogs  are  required  to  pay  for  each  dog  not 
taxed  the  sum  of  $2.00.  There  seems  to  be  a  general  tendency  among 
assessors  to  follow  the  above  procedure,  and  we  find  that  it  accords 
with  the  requirements  of  the  law.28 

(2)     The  tax  rate.    In  accordance  with  the  Act  of  June  3,  1915, 
the  ' '  said  fee  for  each  male  dog  or  spayed  female  dog  shall  not  exceed! 

27Laws  of  Pa.,  1915,  Act  of  June  3,  pp.  791-793. 
of  Pa.,  1915,  Act  of  June  3,  pp.  791-796. 


56  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OP  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

$2.00,  the  fee  for  the  female  dog  shall  not  exceed  $4.00 ;  and  the  said 
sum  shall  be  paid  on  all  dogs  over  eight  months  of  age."29  "We  found 
that  in  practice  the  fee  rarely  ever  reaches  $4.00,  but  in  the  majority 
of  cases  is  $1.00,  and  in  quite  a  few  instances  $2.00  or  $3.00. 

(3)  The  dog  tax  as  a  source  of  revenue.  As  a  source  of  revenue 
the  dog  tax  is  of  very  little  importance.  In  fact  it  is  not  regarded 
by  many  county  officials  as  of  any  value  as  a  means  of  augmenting 
the  county  funds.  So  large  a  proportion  of  the  license  fee  goes  to 
defray  the  cost  of  furnishing  license  slips,  metal  tags,  replacement 
of  lost  tags,  publishing  lists  of  assessed  dogs  and  delinquent  owners, 
and  shooting  non-licensed  dogs,  together  with  the  compensation  of 
owners  of  sheep  killed  by  dogs,30  that  there  is  scarcely  any  revenue 
left  for  the  purpose  for  which  the  surplus  is  to  be  expended,  namely, 
the  aid  of  school  funds. 

To  clearly  set  forth  the  dog  tax  as  a  source  of  revenue,  we  give 
below  a  table  of  receipts  from  this  source. 

Table  XIX.  Showing  the  revenue  receipts  from  taxation  of  dogs 
for  alternate  years  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive. 

Assessed  Valuation 

Year  of  Dogs 

1906 $3,128.00 

1908 2,927.00 

1910 4,326.00 

1912 3,346.00 

1914 5,199.00 

1916 7,700.45 

It  will  be  seen  that  as  a  source  of  revenue  the  dog  tax  is  of  no 
great  consequence,  although  it  shows  a  tendency  to  increase  gradually. 
If  most  of  the  revenue  collected  from  taxation  of  dogs  were  a  net 
addition  to  the  county  funds  it  might  not  be  so  justly  condemned 
as  a  negligible  tax.  But  this  is  not  the  case,  for  the  larger  proportion 
of  the  tax  is  expended  in  collection  and  other  necessary  measures  to 
enforce  the  law.  This  fact  may  be  seen  by  glancing  at  the  statistics 
of  the  following  table. 

of  Pa.,  1915,  Act  of  June  8,  p.  793. 
p.  57. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SOURCES  OF  REVENUE  57 

DOG  FUNDS31 

1.  Receipts 

Cash  balance  January  3,  1916 $5,118.83 

Dog  tax  collected   7,700.45 

Total $12,819.28 

2.  Expenditures 

Damage  to  sheep   312.00 

Damage  to  goats 16.00 

Printing,   advertising  and   supplies    1,546.74 

Assessors  making  returns  41.82 

Dog  registration    153.34 

Killing  dogs    1,458.00 

Clerk  hire    1,300.00 

Dog  tags  and  notices   72.65 

Com.  vs.  Thompson  25.00 

Com.  vs.  Thompson 15.00 

Selling  dog  tags  in  city  of  Chester  73.40 

Affidavits    3.00 

Auditors    8.00 

Justice  fees  1.00 

Incidentals    8.00 

Transfer  of  Dog  Funds  to  General  Cash  Account 5,118.83 

$10,152.78 

Cash  Balance,  January  1,  1917 2,666.50 


$12,819.28 

From  the  above  statistics  it  is  seen  that  on  January  3,  1916,  the 
cash  balance  in  the  dog  fund  was  $5,118.83  and,  at  the  end  of  the  year 
this  same  amount  was  transferred  to  the  general  cash  accounts.  This 
leaves  $7,700.45  actually  collected  from  the  dog  tax  in  1916,  while  the 
expenditures  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law  amounted  to  $5,043.95, 
leaving  a  cash  balance  of  $2,666.50  on  January  1,  1917.  These  sta- 
tistics bear  out  the  statement  of  the  controller  that  most  of  the  rev- 
enue received  from  taxation  of  dogs  is  expended  in  the  collection  and 
other  obligations  connected  with  it. 

The  opinion  obtains  among  the  assessors  that  the  dog  tax  should 
be  abolished.  In  support  of  their  opinion  they  cite  the  facts  that  the 
dog  tax  yields  very  little  revenue  and  is  no  longer  necessary  because 

siThird  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Pa., 
1916,  p.  8. 


58  -    REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

the  original  purpose  of  the  act  has  vanished  with  the  passing  of  the 
sheep  industry  from  the  county.  The  original  purpose  of  the  tax  on 
dogs,  it  seems,  was  to  provide  compensation  to  the  owners  of  those 
sheep  which  were  killed  by  dogs.  This  compensation  is  still  paid  for 
such  losses.  The  township  auditor  secures  affidavits  in  the  case  of 
destruction  of  sheep  by  dogs,  and  presents  the  same  to  the  county 
commissioners.  If  the  claim  for  damages  is  approved  by  the  com- 
missioners then  the  county  controller  pays  the  damages  to  the  owner 
of  the  sheep.  These  claims  amounted  to  only  $43.00  in  1914,32  $36.00 
in  1915,33  and  to  $328.00  in  1917.34  Although  these  facts  constitute 
a  reason  in  the  minds  of  some  assessors  for  the  abolition  of  the  tax 
on  dogs,  other  assessors  maintain  that  the  tax  should  be  retained  on 
the  principle  that  dogs  are  often  a  neighborhood  nuisance  and  owners 
should  be  taxed  for  the  privilege  of  keeping  them.  On  the  other  hand 
a  novel  argument  against  payment  of  the  dog  tax  which  one  assessor 
says  the  people  in  his  district  make  is  that  dogs  are  a  means  of  pro- 
tection and  a  tax  on  them  is  unjust  for  that  reason. 
3.  The  poor  tax. 

Inasmuch  as  the  poor  tax  is  nothing  but  a  levy  on  the  general 
basis  of  assessed  valuation  of  real  property,  there  was  very  little 
room  for  investigation  at  this  point.  We  obtained  what  facts  were 
available  as  to  its  history,  purpose,  and  rate. 

The  care  of  that  part  of  its  population  which  is  not  in  possession 
of  the  wherewithal  to  purchase  the  ordinary  necessaries  of  subsistence 
and  maintain  an  independent  existence  Delaware  County  has  fully 
recognized  to  be  a  public  duty,  and  a  special  fund  has  been  set  aside 
for  that  purpose.  Previous  to  1914  the  poor  were  cared  for  out  of 
a  fund  appropriated  by  the  county  commissioners  from  the  general 
revenue  of  the  county.  This  appropriation  was  made  possible  by  a 
higher  tax  rate  than  the  one  which  is  now  in  vogue.  Complaints 
were  made,  however,  that  the  poor  were  not  faring  as  well  as  they 
should  under  this  system  and  there  arose  a  demand  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  separate  tax  to  provide  definite  revenue  for  the  maintenance 
of  dependents.  Prior  to  1914  the  appropriations  for  this  purpose 
amounted  to  sixty  or  seventy  thousand  dollars.  Since  1914,  however,. 


of  the  County  Controller  of  Delaware  Co.,  1914,  p   12. 
33Report  of  the  County  Controller  of  Delaware  Co.,  1915.  p.  10. 
3*Report  of  the  County  Controller  of  Delaware  Co.,  1917,  p.  8. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SOURCES  OP  REVENUE  59 

there  has  been  in  existence  a  new  tax  known  as  the  "poor  tax."  The 
rate  is  one  mill  on  the  dollar,  i.  e.,  each  dollar  of  assessed  valuation  of 
all  real  estate  ascribed  to  any  person  or  persons  in  the  county.  At 
the  present  time  approximately  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  is  thus 
derived  in  revenue  for  the  care  of  the  county's  indigent  population. 
The  poor  tax  in  1914  amounted  to  $86,131.00  and  in  1916  it  was  $84,- 
608.12.  In  1916  there  was  also  received  $1,594.20  delinquent  poor 
taxes  for  1914,  and  $6,425.91  for  1915,  making  a  total  poor  tax  of 
$92,628.23  collected  in  1916.35 
4.  Other  sources  of  revenue. 

Besides  real  estate,  personal  property,  occupations,  and  dogs, 
there  are  various  other  sources  of  revenue  which  are  of  a  minor  char- 
acter. Some  of  these  are:  liquor  licenses,  bridge  rentals,  excess  re- 
ceipts from  the  office  of  the  recorder  of  deeds  and  the  office  of  the 
prothonotary,  fines  from  justices  of  the  peace,  peddlers'  licenses,  and 
sundry  incidentals.  Regarding  these  minor  sources  of  revenue  it  was 
learned  that  the  annual  receipts  run  as  follows:  county  liquor  tax, 
$4,980.00;  bridge  rentals,  about  $470.00;  $489.57  from  the  office  of 
recorder  of  deeds  by  way  of  excess  receipts  after  deducting  office 
expenses  and  the  sum  of  $2,000.00  for  salary ;  $297.47  from  the  office 
of  prothonotary  by  way  of  excess  receipts  after  deducting  office  ex- 
penses and  $2,000.00  in  salary;36  incidental  receipts,  $5,000.00,  or 
thereabout,  the  amount  varying  as  in  case  of  all  minor  sources,  from 
year  to  year;  peddlers'  licenses,  $804.25;  fines  from  justices  of  the 
peace,  $491.00.37 

3'Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  Co.,  1917,  p.  9. 

3«The  county  receives  fifty  per  cent  of  excess  receipts  from  the  offices 
of  the  recorder  of  deeds  and  the  prothonotary,  after  deducting  office  ex- 
penses and  the  stipulated  salary,  which  in  each  case  is  $2,00000. 
statistics  are  those  for  1917. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RECAPITULATION  OP  THE  ASSESSED  VALUATION  OF  PROPERTY,  AND  A 
STATEMENT  OF  THE  TAX  LEVY  FOR  THE  PERIOD  1906  TO  1916. 

1.     Recapitulation  of  assessed  valuation  of  property. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience  in  comparison  of  the  several  sources 
of  revenue,  we  have  included  in  the  following  table  the  percentage 
of  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  property  borne  by  each  class  of  tax- 
able property  for  alternate  years  covering  the  period  1906  to  1916. 
The  table  will  show  the  exact  distribution  of  the  tax  burden  for  the 
past  ten  years  and  will  emphasize  the  relative  importance  of  some 
taxes  and  the  relative  insignificance  of  others  presented  in  the  prev- 
ious pages  of  this  survey. 

Table  XX.  Showing  the  percentage  of  the  tax  burden  borne 
by  each  class  of  taxable  property  for  alternate  years,  covering  the 
period  1906  to  1916  inclusive.1 


Taxable  Property 

1906 

1908 

1910 

1912 

1914 

1916 

Real  Estate  
Horses  

75.20 
.54 

78.20 
.43 

72.60 
.41 

70.90 
.40 

74.80 
.32 

77.90 
.25 

Cattle  

.36 

.27 

.25 

.22 

.14 

.13 

Vehicles  for  hire  
Money  at  interest  
Occupations  
Dogs.  . 

.00 
19.20 
4.50 
.00 

.00 
17.70 
3.40 
.00 

.04 
22.30 
4.40 
.04 

.00 
25.00 
3.40 

.08 

.00 
22.00 
2.60 
.10 

.00 
19.30 
2.40 
.02 

Totals  

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

2.     The  tax  levy. 

Having  now  completed  our  survey  of  the  various  sources  of  rev- 
enue and  the  place  of  each  in  the  tax  system  for  the  past  decade, 
it  will  be  of  interest  to  note  the  amounts  of  the  tax  levy  for  the 


iThe  percentages  presented  in  this  table  are  taken  from  the  statistics. 
on  revenue  receipts  given  in  the  foregoing  pages. 


RECAPITULATION 


61 


several  purposes — county,  state,  poor, — during  that  period.  The  sta- 
tistics which  we  collected  on  this  subject  were  secured  from  the  re- 
capitulation sheets  of  the  assessment  books  for  each  ward,  township, 
and  borough,  and  are  given  in  the  following  table. 

Table  XXI.  Showing  the  tax  levy  for  county  and  state  purposes 
and  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor,  covering  alternate  years  for  the 
period  1906  to  1916  inclusive.2 


Per 

Per 

Per 

cent 

cent 

cent 

Year 

County 

Total 

State 

Total 

Poor 

Total 

Total 

Levy 

Levy 

Levy 

1906 

$199,521.14 

82.8 

$  41,685.88 

17.2 

$241,207.02 

1908 

238,804.13 

84.5 

43,366.21 

15.5 

282,170.34 

1910 

261,482.34 

81.0 

64,278.32 

19.0 

325,760.66 

1912 

224,205.41 

79.0 

59,502.17 

21.0 

283,707.58 

1914 

278,424.66 

59.9 

100,815.05 

21.6 

$86,131.85 

18.5 

465,371.56 

1916 

266,925.52 

59.4 

87,529.86 

19.4 

95,110.11 

21.2 

449,565.49 

It  should  be  noted  that  although  intangible  personalty  is  still 
listed  in  the  recapitulation  sheets  of  the  assessment  books  as  a  "state 
tax"  it  has  been  a  county  tax  since  1913.  For  the  years  1914  and  1916 
we  must  therefore  add  together  what  are  separately  given  as  county 
and  state  levies  and  designate  both  as  county  levy.  If  we  include  the 
tax  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor,  we  shall  see  that  the  tax  levy 
for  county  purposes  has  increased  from  $241,207.02  in  1906  to  $449,- 
565.49  in  1916,  almost  doubling  itself  in  ten  years.3  Provided  the 
entire  amount  were  collected  and  the  revenue  from  miscellaneous 
sources  included,  the  county  income  would  be  much  higher  than  the 
above  statistics  indicate.  This  leads  us  to  the  next  division  of  our 
investigation  which  deals  with  the  collection  of  taxes. 

'-The  tax  levies  here  given  are  taken  from  the  annual  assessment  books 
from  1906  to  1916. 

3Including  the  payment  of  back  or  delinquent  taxes,  the  tax  receipts 
for  1916  amounted  ta  $453,339.62.  Report  of  the  County  Controller  for 
1916,  p.  9. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  COLLECTION  OF  TAXES 

Thus  far  our  survey  of  the  revenue  system  of  Delaware  County 
has  been  presented  from  the  assessment  side.  The  next  logical  step 
in  our  investigation  is  a  study  of  the  system  of  tax  collection,  for  it 
is  clear  that  the  assessment  work  is  wasted  energy  unless  followed  up 
by  a  successful  collection  of  taxes.  Realizing  that  assessment  of 
property  and  collection  of  taxes  are  complementary  parts  of  the  rev- 
enue system  and  that  if  the  one  is  deficient  the  other  is  thereby  weak- 
ened, we  deemed  it  necessary  to  ascertain  some  facts  relative  to  the 
collection  of  taxes.  The  data  at  this  point  were  not  so  accessible  as 
in  the  case  of  assessment,  because  the  tax  collectors'  books  are  not  on 
file  in  the  office  of  the  county  commissioners  as  are  the  assessors' 
books.  Our  information  on  this  phase  of  the  survey  was  gleaned  from 
the  statements  of  exonerations,  interviews  with  collectors  and  other 
officials  in  close  touch,  with  tax  returns,  and  the  statistics  of  the 
county  controller's  reports  for  the  past  three  years. 
1.  Election  of  tax  collectors. 

Tax  collectors  are  elected  by  the  people  for  a  term  of  four  years 
and  may  be  reelected  indefinitely.  Like  the  office  of  assessor,  it  is  a 
political  one  and  therefore  subject  to  the  evils  that  tend  to  surround 
such  an  office.  No  specific  qualifications  are  necessary  to  become  a 
^collector  of  taxes  and  the  primary  consideration  seems  to  be  that  of 
active  affiliation  with  one  or  the  other  of  the  dominant  political 
parties.  As  far  as  we  were  able  to  learn  the  tax  collectors  in  Delaware 
Oounty,  except  in  a  few  cases  in  which  the  collectors  are  men  of 
marked  ability,  are  not  chosen  because  of  any  special  fitness  or  prepar- 
ation for  office. 
:2.  Duties  of  tax  collectors. 

State,  county,  borough,  and  township  taxes  are  collected  by  the 
local  tax  collectors  of  the  various  townships,  wards,  and  boroughs. 
In  townships  of  the  first  class  tax  collections  are  made  by  the  township 
treasurer.  When  the  collector  receives  from  the  county  commission- 
ers the  tax  duplicate  he  sends  notice  to  the  assessed  property  owners 
specifying  the  amount  of  each  owner's  tax  for  the  current  year.  All 


THE  COLLECTION  OP  TAXES  63 

persons  who  make  payment  within  sixty  days  are  entitled  to  a  reduc- 
tion of  five  per  cent.  Warrants  for  collection  are  in  effect  for  a  period 
of  two  years.  A  remarkable  amount  of  power  is  given  to  tax  col- 
lectors. They  may  levy  by  distress  and  sale  of  chattels  and  if  neces- 
sary may  imprison  any  person  who  refuses  to  pay  taxes.  Not  know- 
ing the  limitations  of  the  law,  many  tax  collectors  in  Delaware  County 
have  unconsciously  over-stepped  their  legal  power  in  this  respect, 
and  a  great  deal  of  litigation  has  resulted.  As  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Tax  Collectors'  Association  stated  to  the  writer:  "Before  our 
association  was  formed  and  collectors  were  given  opportunity  of  ex- 
changing views  and  asking  questions  on  points  of  law  regarding  col- 
lection, many  of  them  were  constantly  in  need  of  an  attorney."  As. 
we  shall  point  out  later,  the  association  of  tax  collectors  has  done  much 
to  eliminate  these  unnecessary  law  suits.  Lands  may  be  sold  in  lieu 
of  county  and  township  taxes  which  are  two  years  overdue.  The 
taxes  on  unseated  lands  must  be  paid  within  a  year,  and  all  taxes — • 
county,  township,  poor,  school,  or  municipal  (except  in  cities  of  the 
first  or  second  class)  are  a  lien  on  real  estate  from  the  date  of  levy 
for  three  years  and,  if  recorded,  for  five  years.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
duties  of  the  tax  collector  are  wide  in  scope  and  his  power  to  enforce 
the  law  is  quite  extensive. 

3.  Compensation  of  tax  collectors. 

At  the  final  settlement  of  his  duplicate  each  collector  is  entitled 
to  retain  the  sum  of  five  per  cent  on  all  moneys  collected  by  him.  This 
compensation  of  five  per  cent  is  allowed  to  the  collector  by  the  treas- 
urer of  the  county  or  township,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  constitutes 
his  full  compensation  for  services  rendered  in  the  capacity  of  tax 
collector.1 

4.  Operation  of  the  system  of  tax  collection. 

Due  to  the  fact  that  each  collector  is  held  responsible  for  his 
entire  tax  duplicate  and  is  required  to  give  a  bond  covering  the 
amount  specified  by  the  commissioners,  there  is  not  the  same  indiffer- 
ence to  the  obligations  of  the  office  as  that  which  characterizes  the 
office  of  assessor.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  system  of  collection 
in  Delaware  County  operates  perfectly.  It  means  merely  that  due  to 
the  requirements  of  the  law  there  is  a  tendency  to  attempt  to  collect 

iCounty  tax.  The  compensation  for  borough  and  school  tax  collection 
is  determined  by  the  local  council  and  school  board  respectively. 


64  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

the  full  amount  of  the  tax  duplicate,  although  this  does  not  necessarily 
follow. 

As  in  the  case  of  assessment,  there  is  current  a  great  deal  of) 
criticism  of  the  methods  of  tax  collection  in  the  various  districts  of 
the  county.  It  is  pointed  out  that  many  of  the  collectors  are  not  so 
efficient  as  they  should  be  and  their  indifference  to  the  duties  of  the 
office  results  in  a  very  inadequate  collection  of  revenue.  This  is  evi- 
denced in  the  large  amount  of  delinquent  taxes,  which  constitutes 
a  question  of  much  concern  to  the  county  officials  who  are  directly 
interested  in  the  revenue  system.  An  examination  of  the  reports  of 
the  county  controller  will  show  that  this  perplexity  regarding  unpaid 
taxes  is  not  unfounded  and  that  the  collection  of  taxes,  like  the  as- 
sessment of  property,  is  in  great  need  of  improvement. 

In  his  report  for  1914,  the  county  controller  has  the  following  to 
say  about  delinquent  or  unpaid  taxes : 

This  is  a  legacy  handed  down  from  one  year  to  the  other, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  some  means 
will  be  found  to  compel  a  closer  collection  of  taxes.  My  statement 
shows  unpaid  taxes  for  the  year  1914,  amounting  to  $55,156.45, 
or  more  than  one-eighth  of  the  total  amount  of  the  duplicate 
for  that  year.  It  seems  to  me  that  some  method  should  be  adopt- 
ed that  would  materially  cut  down  this  balance  in  the  following 
year.2 

The  controller's  hope  that  improvement  might  be  made  in  the 
following  year  was  not  very  happily  realized,  for  in  his  report  for 
1915  he  says: 

After  considerable  effort  we  have  been  able  to  reduce  the 
amount  of  uncollected  taxes  a  little.  Several  plans  have  been 
tried  with  the  idea  of  compelling  closer  collection,  but  because  of 
the  length  of  time  allowed  the  collectors  in  which  to  make  their 
returns,  it  has  been  a  difficult  task  to  make  any  decided  improve- 
ment along  this  line,  up  to  the  present  time.3 
Relative  to  the  collection  of  taxes  in  1916,  the  controller  was  able 
to  say  the  following :  "In  the  matter  of  the  collection  of  these  taxes, 

2Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  1914,  p.  4. 
sReport  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  1915,  p.  1. 


THE  COLLECTION  OF  TAXES 


65 


I  am  sure  that  we  have  been  able  to  accomplish  considerable  good."4 
After  stating  that  improved  methods  of  collection  had  been  intro- 
duced, the  controller  continues : 

It  will  be  interesting  to  note  here  that  the  amount  of  the 
duplicate  for  1915  was  $418,885.85.  The  duplicate  for  1916  was 
$462,881.62,  showing  an  increase  in  revenue  of  $43,995.77.  Thus 
with  a  larger  tax  to  collect  the  balance  due  the  county  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  was  only  $50,978.97  as  against  a  balance  due 
for  1915  of  $54,753.58. 

We  feel,  however,  that  there  is  still  room  for  improvement 
along  this  line,  and  during  the  coming  year  we  shall  endeavor 
to  put  into  practice  plans  which  we  think  will  enable  us  to  very 
materially  reduce  the  balance  of  unpaid  taxes  at  the  beginning  of 
the  next  fiscal  year." 

A  summary  of  the  statistics  on  tax  collection  is  given  in  the  table 
below.  Among  the  facts  revealed  by  the  following  data  are:  (a)  the 
difference  between  the  total  face  value  of  all  tax  duplicates  and  the 
total  amount  of  uncollected  taxes  for  each  of  the  years  given,  and, 
(b)  the  cost  of  collection  each  year  is  between  $17,000.00  and  $21,- 
000.00. 

Table  XXII.  A  recapitulation  of  the  tax  collectors'  statement, 
covering  the  period  of  three  years — 1914,  1915,  and  1916  inclusive. 


Account 

1914* 

19157 

19168 

Total  face  of  all  tax  duplicates 

$    416,623.10 

$    418,885.85 

$    462,881.62 

Discounts  allowed  

16,056.93 

16,391.04 

18,302.23 

Commissions  allowed  

17,270.49 

17,386.90 

21,785.05 

Total  amount  of  cash  collected 

328,139.23 

330,353.73 

411,902.65 

Total  amount  of  uncollected 

taxes 

51,156.45 

54,753.58 

50,978.97 

^Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  1916,  p.  3. 
-Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  1916,  p.  4. 
sReport  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  1914,  p.  30 
'Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  1915,  p.  38. 
^Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  1916,  p.  11. 


66  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

The  discounts  and  commissions  allowed  in  1916  include  those  on 
the  collections  for  that  year  and  also  on  payments  of  delinquent 
taxes.  During  the  last  three  years  the  county  has  paid  the  sum  of 
$56,080.70  for  assessment  and  $56,442.44  for  the  collection  of  taxes, 
makin^fa  total  of  $112,523.14.  The  combined  cost  of  assessment  and 
collection  for  the  years  1914,  1915,  and  1916  was  $34,421.57,  $36,580.- 
93,  and  $41,521.64,  respectively.  This  means  that  one-twentieth  or 
5  per  cent  of  the  tax  receipts  is  expended  in  assessment  and  collection. 
5.  Exonerations. 

When  for  any  reason  the  tax  collector  is  unable  to  collect  any 
taxes  he  presents  to  the  county  commissioners  a  statement  of  the  un- 
collectable  revenue  and  requests  to  be  exonerated  from  the  responsi- 
bility of  its  collection.  If  this  request  is  granted  the  collector  is  re- 
lieved of  all  further  responsibility  for  the  collection  of  the  specified 
taxes.  A  careful  examination  of  the  statements  of  exoneration  sub- 
mitted to  the  county  commissioners  by  the  tax  collectors  and  later 
approved  by  the  commissioners  shows  very  clearly  that  the  road 
to  exoneration  is  not  a  difficult  one.  The  lists  of  exonerations 
for  the  various  wards,  boroughs  and  townships  of  the  county,  are 
extremely  long  and  the  phrases  "Can't  Collect"  and  "Moved"  ap- 
pear in  almost  incredible  frequency. 

Because  it  illustrates  both  the  attitude  of  some  collectors  toward 
the  duty  of  their  office  and  the  ease  with  which  exoneration  from  the 
collection  of  delinquent  taxes  may  be  obtained,  we  give  below  an  exact 
copy  of  a  tax  collector's  statement  of  exonerations.  A  similar  report 
was  made  by  the  same  collector  in  1913,  and  is  typical  of  the  reasons 
advanced  in  support  of  the  failure  to  collect  revenue. 


THE  COLLECTION  OF  TAXES  67 

Exonerations   in    Township    of   for   1914.9 

P  C 

— ,  drunken,  beat,  liar,  degenerate 14  .42 

— ,  idiot,  lick,  self-abuse 09  .28 

— ,  drunken  beat,  liar,  sneaked  off 09  .28 

— ,  swears  was  under  age  when  assessed 09  .28 

— ,  Maryland  nigger,  here  only  short  time 09  .28 

— ,  gone,  spring  '14 09  .28 

— ,  died 13  .39 

— ,  died 09  .28 

— ,  nigger,  died  of  election  whiskey . .      .09  .28 

— ,  a  good  nigger,  gone,  spring  '14 09  .28 

— ,  Maryland  nigger,  here  only  short  time 09  .28 

— ,  Swede,  gone,  spring  '14 ; .      .09  .28 

— ,  Chester  resident,  did  not  live  here 14  .42 

— ,  invalid,  sick,  poor 09  .28 

— ,  gone,  drunk,  beat 09  .28 

— ,  degenerate,  sneak,  gone,  thief,  stole  blanket 09  .28 

— ,  swears  was  not  of  age  in  '14 09  .28 

— ,  drunk,  beat,  gone  last  year,  no  good 09  .28 

— ,  a  poor  nigger  idiot,  too  poor  to  be  taxed 09  .28 

— ,  nigger,  drunk,  sneaked  off  lately,  died 09  .28 

,  never  found .  .                                                                       .09  .28 


2.39        7.31 


Co.  Poor 

7.31  2.39 

.37  .12  pen 


7.68  3.51         $10.19 

Dogs  died.     Friends  meeting  house  property 1 .05 

1  Est.  Jas.  Stevenson,  ran  off 1 .05 

1  Est.  Geo.  Ennis,  who  died,  dog  taken  away 1 .05 


3.15 


Liens  Co.  Poor 

10.33  3.37         14.30 

.52  pen  .17        27.73 


10.85  3.54 

'•^Letter  C  designates  county  tax,  letter  P  designates  poor  tax. 
i°Numbers  are  substituted  for  names  of  persons  because  the  informa- 
tion was  received  in  confidence. 


68  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

Apart  from  its  crudeness  and  contradictions  the  above  document 
is  characteristic  of  some  of  the  reports  that  pass  without  much  criti- 
cism through  the  office  of  the  county  commissioners.  The  report  was 
badly  written  in  pencil  and  the  general  form  in  \vhich  it  was  drawn  up 
was  sufficient  to  arouse  suspicion  and  invite  rejection.  This  and  simi- 
lar documents  have  been  approved  and  accepted  by  tlie  commissioners, 
a  fact  which  does  not  speak  favorably  for  the  exactness  with  which 
such  reports  are  reviewed.  If  a  closer  collection  of  taxes  is  to  be 
assured,  the  commissioners  must  make  a  more  careful  examination 
of  the  validity  of  such  requests  for  exonerations  as  the  above,  and  the 
tax  collectors  should  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that  henceforth  it 
will  be  difficult  to  secure  unlimited  exemption  from  the  responsibility 
of  collecting  "bad  taxes." 

As  stated  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  survey/1  it  is  estimated  by 
some  persons  that  fifty  per  cent  of  the  occupation  tax  in  Chester  i» 
returned  as  "Exonerations"  and  thirty-five  per  cent  is  so  returned 
from  the  remainder  of  the  county.  Although  we  were  unable  to 
verify  the  above  statement  statistically,  a  glance  at  the  data  on  de-> 
linquent  taxes  presented  above12  will  reveal  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
tax  collectors  of  Delaware  County  are  not  putting  forth  the  strongest 
efforts  in  the  collection  of  county  revenue. 

As  was  previously  shown13  delinquent  or  unpaid  taxes  in  Dela- 
ware County  amount  to  one-eighth  of  the  total  tax  duplicate  or  levy. 
From  this  it  might  be  seen  that  the  tax  system  is  weak  not  only  as  to 
assessment  but  also  as  to  collection.  Just  what  constitutes  the  best 
remedy  is  difficult  to  say.  Some  persons  interested  in  the  question 
urge  very  strongly  a  unification  of  the  state  laws  which  deal  with  tax 
collection.  In  1915  a  codification  of  such  laws  was  attempted  for  the 
State  Legislature,  but  no  simplification  or  unification  resulted.  It  is 
pointed  out  by  the  advocates  of  tax  reform  that  the  laws  dealing  with 
the  collection  of  taxes  are  still  very  contradictory  and  it  is  difficult 
for  the  collectors  to  learn  what  are  the  legal  requirements  of  the 
office.  Other  persons  approach  the  problem  from  a  different  point  of 
view  and  urge  the  necessity  for  passing  a  law  requiring  all  lists  of 

"See  p.  53. 
isSee  pp.  64-65. 
i3See  p.  64. 


THE  COLLECTION  OF  TAXES  69 

exonerations  to  be  submitted  under  affidavit.  Such  a  law,  it  is  con- 
tended, would  assure  a  closer  collection  of  revenue  since  the  collectors 
would  hesitate  to  return  unreasonable  lists  of  exonerations  before  do- 
ing their  best  to  collect  the  taxes  from  delinquent  individuals.  Still 
other  persons  believe  that  reform  must  come  by  electing  to  office  more 
intelligent  and  public-spirited  tax  collectors.  At  this  juncture,  how- 
ever, it  should  be  stated  that  the  tax  collectors  of  Delaware  County 
are  a  fairly  representative  body  of  men. 

An  opinion  current  throughout  the  county  is  that  the  office  of  tax 
collector,  like  that  of  assessor,  is  likely  to  be  a  political  football.  In 
many  cases,  therefore,  collectors  are  chosen,  not  because  of  their  fit- 
ness for  office,  but  for  allegiance  to  a  political  party.  The  confession 
of  the  assessors  who  told  the  writer  that  they  cared  nothing  and  knew 
less  about  the  work  of  assessment  and  took  it  only  because  invited  to 
do  so  by  political  leaders  might  justly  have  been  made  by  many  tax 
collectors.  Reform,  it  seems  to  us,  must  come  both  from  the  statutory 
side  by  way  of  unification  of  numerous  acts  dealing  with  tax  collection, 
and  from  the  political  side  in  the  election  to  office  of  men  who  are 
fitted  for  the  work  it  entails  and  who  are  interested  in  the  welfare 
of  the  community. 
6.  The  Tax  Collectors'  Association. 

Much  is  being  done  to  better  the  system  of  tax  collection  by  the 
Tax  Collectors'  Association  of  Delaware  County,  of  which  Mr.  J.  B. 
Simpson,  a  public-spirited  and  intelligent  man,  is  president.  The 
aims  of  the  Association  are:  (1)  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  tax 
collectors  and  to  generally  improve  the  collection  system,  (2)  to  in- 
crease when  necessary  the  compensation  of  the  collectors,  and  (3)  to 
bring  the  collectors  together  in  a  social  way.  The  meetings  of  the 
Association  offer  opportunity  for  free  exchange  of  ideas  and  general 
discussion  of  the  difficulties  and  problems  that  confront  the  collectors. 
In  this  way,  as  was  pointed  out  above,  the  tax  collectors  get  light 
upon  many  legal  technicalities,  ignorance  of  which  has  in  the  past 
resulted  in  unnecessary  litigation.  Many  helpful  suggestions  are 
received  from  the  discussions  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  work 
of  tax  collection  is  greatly  improved  by  the  activities  of  the  As- 
sociation. 


70  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

7.     Conclusions. 

( 1 )  As  to  the  election  and  qualification  of  tax  collectors,  there  is 
great  need  for  the  selection  of  men  who  are  better  qualified  for  the 
duties  of  the  office.    Although  the  collectors  in  Delaware  County  are 
.a  fairly  efficient  body  of  men,  there  is  room  for  improvement. 

(2)  As  to  compensation,  there  is  current  among  collectors  the 
opinion  that  they  are  underpaid  and,  perhaps,  as  in  the  case  of  as- 
.sessors,   an  increase   in  pay  would  induce  more   competent  men  to 
accept  the  office. 

(3)  As  to  delinquent  taxes,  there  is  much  room  for  improve- 
ment.    The  statements  of  the  county  controller  and  the  statistics  on 
unpaid  taxes  quoted  in  the  foregoing  pages14  show  that  it  is  impera- 
tive that  something  be  done  to  compel  a  closer  collection  of  taxes. 
Some  suggestions  for  reform  have  been  set  forth  in  this  study,15  and 
they  constitute  what  seem  to  us  to  be  the  most  promising  lines  of  pro- 
cedure. 

(4)  As  to  exonerations  or  exemption  from  responsibility  of  col- 
lecting taxes  from  persons  who  seek  to  escape   them,  greater  care 
should  be  exercised  by  the  commissioners  in  granting  the  requests 
for  exemption.     At  present  the  laxity  in  the  method  of  examining 
such  requests  encourages  collectors  to  make  unreasonable  pleas  for 
•exoneration.     One  official  attributed  the  abuses  arising  in  this  con- 
nection to  the  fact  that  the  tax  collectors  are  permitted  to  submit 
lists  of  exonerations  without  an  affidavit.     He  thinks  that  if  an  affi- 
davit were  required  the  collectors  would  not  be  so  apt  to  make  un- 
reasonable requests  for  exonerations  before  making  a  strenuous  effort 
to  collect  the  total  amount  of  the  tax  duplicate.    It  has  been  demon- 
strated repeatedly  that  the  requirement  of  a  sworn  statement  has 
been  responsible  for  the  increased  revenue  from  intangible  property. 
For  example,  one  assessor,  by  impressing  upon  the  minds  of  owners 
of  intangible  personalty  the  penalty  for  perjury  or  refusal  to  declare 
its  true  valuation,  and  by  the  rigid  requirement  of  an  affidavit,  has1 
increased  his  assessment  of  such  property  from  $17,000.00  to  $180,- 
000.00.     The  requirement  of  an  affidavit  might  have  the  same  effect 
in  stimulating  a  closer  collection  of  taxes. 

"See  pp.  64-65. 
p.  71. 


THE  COLLECTION  OF  TAXES  71 

Besides  the  necessity  of  compelling  tax  collectors  to  submit  ex- 
onerations under  affidavit,  we  would  call  attention  to  the  possi- 
bility of  eliminating  some  of  the  undesirable  consequences  of  exon- 
eration by  urging  the  county  commissioners  to  make  a  more  careful 
and  stringent  examination  of  the  tax  collectors'  reports,  especially  as 
to  unpaid  taxes.  With  the  introduction  of  these  two  improvements 
there  would  doubtless  follow  a  closer  collection  of  all  taxes. 

(5)  As  to  the  Tax  Collectors'  Association.  If  the  Association 
maintains  the  aim  set  by  its  leaders  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  its 
members  and  not  to  make  increased  compensation  the  primary  ob- 
jective of  its  efforts,  there  is  no  question  but  that  it  will  serve  as  one 
of  the  best  agencies  for  the  reform  of  the  tax  collection  system. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

The  salient  points  which  have  been  presented  in  the  foregoing 
pages  regarding  the  revenue  system  of  Delaware  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, may  be  summarized  briefly  as  follows : 

1.  The  equipment  and  compensation  of  the  assessors  are  inad- 
equate to  assure  efficiency.    There  is  little  doubt  that  an  increase  in 
pay  would  induce  more  capable  men  to  run  for  the  office  of  assessor. 

2.  The  basis  of  assessment  varies  betAveen  townships,  boroughs 
and  wards,  and  even  between  different  parts  of  the  same  district.  The 
valuation  ranges  from  less  than  twenty  to  seventy  per  cent  of  the 
selling  value  of  the  property. 

3.  There  is  a  marked  conflict  between  local — township  and  bor- 
ough— and  county  interests,  the  localities  preferring  a  low  assessment 
and  a  high  tax  rate  in  order  to  bear  as  little  as  possible  of  the  burden 
of  county  taxes. 

4.  There  are  many  evidences  in  almost  every  locality  of  gross 
inequality  in  assessments,  the  tendency  being  for  smaller  properties 
to  be  assessed  at  almost  their  true  value  while  larger  properties  are 
assessed  at  much  less  than  their  true  value. 

5.  Land  and  improvements  are  assessed  jointly,  except  in  a  few 
localities  where  the  method  of  assessing  them  separately  has  been 
adopted.    The  latter  method  is  proving  the  more  successful  and  just. 

6.  The  heaviest  end  of  the  county  tax  burden  during  the  last 
ten  years  has  been  borne  by  realty,  although  realty  has  borne  a  de- 
creasing proportionate  share  of  the  burden  during  that  time. 

7.  During  the  last  ten  years  intangible  personal  property  has 
borne  an  increasing  share  of  the  tax  burden,  while  tangible  personalty 
has  shown  a  decreasing  proportionate  share. 

8.  The  occupation  tax  is  of  no  great  value  as  a  source  of  rev- 
enue, is  difficult  to  collect,  and  in  the  opinion  of  those  connected  with 
and  interested  in  the  revenue  system  it  should  be  abolished,  and  in  its 
stead  a  uniform  poll  tax  of  $1.00  should  be  established. 

9.  The  tax  on  dogs  is  an  insignificant  source  of  revenue,  involves 
a  heavy  cost  of  collection,  and  its  abolition  is  advocated. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  73 

10.  Except  the  tax  on  liquors,  the  minor  sources  of  revenue  add 
very  little  to  the  county  treasury. 

11.  There  has  been  rapid  growth  in  the  county  income  from 
1906i  to  1916,— an  advance  from  $204,249.50  to  $460,857.19  in  that 
period. 

12.  The  system  of  tax  collection,  like  the  system  of  assessment, 
is  deficient  at  many  points,  and  immediate  reform  is  necessary. 

13.  The  Tax  Collectors'  Association  and  the  Assessors'  Associa- 
tion are  endeavoring  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  their  respective 
members,  but  as  yet  there  has  been  no  marked  development  due,  we- 
believe,  to  the  tendency  of  both  organizations  to  place  emphasis  upon 
increased  pay  as  the  primary  objective  of  their  efforts. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  data  presented  in  the  foregoing 
pages  will,  we  believe,  warrant  the  conclusion  that  the  method  of 
assessment  and  valuation  of  property  and  the  system  of  tax  collection 
in  Delaware  County  are  defective,  and  that  if  the  growing  expendi- 
tures of  the  county  are  to  be  met  without  deficit  and  consequent  ac- 
cumulation of  debt  it  is  very  necessary  that  some  plan  of  reorganiza- 
tion and  reform  be  introduced  immediately. 

Just  what  constitutes  the  most  adaptable  and  effective  remedy 
it  is  difficult  to  determine  until  facts  similar  to  those  given  in  the 
foregoing  pages  are  collected  for  the  other  counties  of  the  state.  The 
problems  of  the  several  counties  are  in  all  probability  very  much  alike, 
and  for  the  sake  of  uniformity  there  should  be  introduced  by  means, 
of  a  state  law  a  general  plan  of  reorganization  that  will  bring  the 
necessary  improvements  for  all  of  the  counties. 

Throughout  this  discussion  it  has  been  stated  that  the  great  de- 
fect in  the  revenue  system  of  Delaware  County  is  the  lack  of  uniform- 
ity in  the  method  of  assessment  and  a  corresponding  lack  of  unifica- 
tion in  the  laws  under  which  the  revenue  is  collected.  Inasmuch  as 
these  conditions  are  not  peculiar  to  Delaware  County  we  are  of  the 
opinion  that  if  the  necessary  uniformity  were  introduced  in  the  rev- 
enue system  much  would  be  accomplished  thereby  toward  a  satisfact- 
ory solution  of  the  difficult  problems  that  confront  the  several  counties, 
of  the  state.  Fortunately  the  desired  changes  could  be  effected  with- 
out) the  trouble  that  ordinarily  accompanies  constitutional  amend- 
ment, for  the  state  legislature  in  Pennsylvania  is  singularly  free 
from  constitutional  restriction  on  its  taxing  power.  As  a  tax  expert 


74  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

has  observed,  "The  constitutions  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and 
Pennsylvania  contain  almost  nothing  to  limit  the  power  of  the  legis- 
lature. All  these  states  have  profited  by  this  freedom  from  consti- 
tutional restraint."10  The  truth  of  this  observation  is  shown  in  the 
following  quotation  of  the  constitutional  provisions  for  raising  rev- 
enue in  Pennsylvania.17 

Article  IX. 

Section  1.  All  taxes  shall  be  uniform  upon  the  same  class 
of  subjects,  within  the  territorial  limits  of  the  authority  levying 
the  tax,  and  shall  be  levied  and  collected  under  the  general 
laws;  but  the  legislative  assembly  may,  by  general  laws,  exempt 
from  taxation  public  property  used  for  public  purposes,  actual 
places  of  religious  worship,  places  of  burial  not  used  or  held  for 
private  or  corporate  profit,  and  institutions  of  purely  public 
charity. 

Sec.  2.  All  laws  exempting  property  from  taxation,  other 
than  the  property  above  enumerated,  shall  be  void. 

Sec.  3.  The  power  to  tax  corporations  and  incorporate 
property  shall  not  be  surrendered  or  suspended  by  any  contract 
or  grant  to  which  the  state  shall  be  a  party. 

Sec.  9.  Any  county,  township,  school  district,  or  other  mu- 
nicipality incurring  any  indebtedness,  shall,  at  or  before  the  time 
of  so  doing,  provide  for  the  collection  of  an  annual  tax  sufficient 
to  pay  the  interest,  and  also  the  principal  thereof,  within  thirty 
days. 

Article  III. 

Section  1.  The  general  assembly  shall  not  pass  any  local 
or  special  laws  exempting  property  from  taxation. 

Another  factor  which  tends  to  simplify  the  introduction  of  nec- 
essary improvements  in  county  revenue  systems  in  Pennsylvania 
is  the  well  defined  separation  of  the  sources  of  state  and  local  rev^ 
enue.18  This  separation  became  quite  complete  as  a  result  of  the  Act 
of  June  8,  1913.  Pursuant  to  this  Act  moneys  at  interest,  mortgages, 
agreements,  and  other  evidences  of  wealth  were  made  subject  to  tax- 

i6Mr.  Lawson  Purdy,  State  and  Local  Taxation,  1907,  p.  55. 

iTPurdon's  Digest,  13th  Ed.  p.  111. 

isProperty  taxable  for  local  purposes  has  been  enumerated  in  the  fore- 
going pages.  Space  does  not  permit  enumeration  of  kinds  of  property  tax- 
able for  state  purposes. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  75 

ation  for  county  purposes.  Previous  to  the  enactment  of  this  measure 
these  several  kinds  of  intangible  personal  property  were  taxed  for 
purposes  of  state  revenue,  although  three-fourths  of  the  receipts  was 
refunded  to  the  counties  to  help  them  meet  their  expenditures.  This 
change  in  legislation  made  the  counties  quite  independent  units  of 
government  as  regards  sources  of  revenue  and  consequently  the  state 
is  no  longer  deeply  involved  in  the  problems  that  arise  in  the  revenue 
systems  of  the  various  counties. 

The  difficulties  that  now  exist  are  intra-county  and  arise  chiefly 
out  of  the  practice  that  obtains  in  the  several  boroughs  and  town- 
ships of  trying  to  escape  a  just  share  of  the  burden  of  county  tax- 
ation. Whereas  previous  to  1913  the  counties  endeavored  to  escape 
their  just  share  of  state  taxation,  now  the  localities  within  the  county 
try  to  evade  the  county  tax.  This  is  done,  as  previously  pointed  out, 
by  having  a  low  valuation  and  a  high  tax  rate.  The  earnest  efforts 
of  assessors  to  save  their  constituents  from  a  fair  proportion  of 
county  taxes,  by  undervaluation  of  property  in  their  respective  dis- 
tricts have  led  to  widespread  inequalities  as  between  townships, 
boroughs,  and  wards.  To  secure  equality  in  assessment  and  a  just 
distribution  of  the  burden  of  county  revenue  some  means  must  be 
devised  of  assessing  all  property  on  the  same  legal  basis,  namely,  one- 
hundred  per  cent  or  its  selling  value.  Such  true  valuation,  however, 
seems  a  remote  possibility  until  more  capable  assessors  are  chosen. 

The  question  now  arises  as  to  the  possible  solutions  of  the  many 
problems  of  county  taxation.  It  might  be  suggested  that  state  con- 
trol and  centralization  are  the  necessary  remedies.  Such  control 
could  be  exercised  by  the  Auditor-General  or  some  other  official,  or 
even  a  state  tax  commission.  In  view  of  the  complete  separation  of 
the  sources  of  state  and  local  revenue  state  control  and  state  central- 
ization seem  hardly  necessary  in  Pennsylvania.  The  alternative, 
therefore,  would  seem  to  lie  either  in  improvement  of  the  present 
system  of  many  local  assessors,  or,  in  the  introduction  of  county 
boards  of  assessment.  The  great  need  of  improvement  in  the  present 
system  lies  in  the  fitness  of  assessors  for  the  office.*  Although,  as  is 
generally  agreed,  the  work  of  assessment  is  the  most  important  phase 
of  a  tax  system,  it  is  entrusted  in  the  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  as  in 
other  states,  to  men  who  possess  little  or  no  knowledge  of  real  estate 
values  and  who  in  most  cases  either  guess  at  valuations  or  take  those 
set  by  their  predecessors.  As  a  writer  on  taxation  has  put  it,  "They 


76  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

represent  neither  the  worst  nor  the  best  abilities  of  the  communities 
they  serve  and  are  not  usually  elected  because  of  their  special  fitness 
for  the  task  entrusted  to  them."19  If  the  present  system  is  to  be  re- 
tained, therefore,  it  would  seem  that  more  capable  assessors  must  be 
elected. 

The  second  possibility  of  reform  under  a  system  of  local  control 
lies  in  the  introduction  of  boards  of  assessment  for  the  several  count- 
ies. Already  such  a  solution  has  been  tried  in  the  larger  counties 
and  municipalities  of  the  state.20  Public  officials  do  not  agree  as  to  the 
success  of  such  centralization  in  the  hands  of  boards  of  assessment. 
The  system,  however,  has  never  been  tested  in  the  smaller  counties 
and  the  writer  believes  that  it  might  be  more  successful  than  the  pres- 
ent methods  of  assessment.  As  already  stated,  the  introduction  of  a 
general  reform  measure  would  be  unwise,  if  not  impracticable,  until 
the  conditions  that  obtain  in  other  counties  of  the  state  are  ascer- 
tained. For  this  reason  the  writer  is  unwilling  to  suggest  any  in- 
novations other  than  the  election  to  office  of  more  capable  assessors, 
the  elimination  of  the  evil  that  arises  from  the  desire  of  boroughs, 
townships  and  wards  to  escape  a  just  share  of  the  burden  of  county 
taxation,  and  unification  of  the  laws  under  which  revenue  is  collected. 

isProfessor  M.  B.  Hammond,  State  and  Local  Taxation,  1908,  p.  113. 
of  Pennsylvania,  Act  of  June  13,  1911,  pp.  893-894. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Acts  of  The  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  under  which  revenue 
is  collected,  with  opinions  and  decisions  of  the  Courts,  arranged  by  E.  B. 
Hardenburgh,  Auditor-General,  1904.  State  Printer,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  1904. 

Compendium  and  Brief  History  of  Taxation  in  Pennsylvania  with  Sta- 
tistics, et  cetera,  arranged  by  W.  P.  Snyder,  Auditor-General,  1906.  State 
Printer,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  1906. 

Taxation  for  State  Purposes  in  Pennsylvania,  et  cetera,  by  Frank  M. 
Eastman.  Kay  and  Bro.,  Philadelphia,  1908. 

United  States  Census,  Special  Report  on  Wealth,  Debt,  and  Taxation, 
1913. 

First  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, 1914. 

Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, 1915. 

Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Controller  of  Delaware  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, 1916. 

Assessment  Transcripts  for  Delaware  County,  Media,  Pa.,  1906  to  1916. 

The  Session  Laws  of  Pennsylvania  to  1916. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Revision  of  the  Corporation  and  Revenue  Laws 
of  Pennsylvania.  State  Printer,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  1911. 

General  Laws  Relating  to  Taxation.  Legislative  Reference  Bureau, 
Harrisburg,  Pa.  1914. 


INDEX  TO  STATISTICAL  TABULATIONS 

PAGE 

The  percentage  basis  of  assessment,  Table  I 12 

Comparison  of  actual  percentage  basis  of  assessment  with  that  claimed 
to  be  used  by  assessors,  Table  II 14 

Inequalities  in  assessment,  Table  III 16 

The  tax  rate  in  the  various  boroughs  and  townships  and  in  the  city  of 
Chester  19 

The  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable  property,  the  assessed  valuation  of 
real  estate  and  the  percentage  which  real  estate  assessments  bear  to  the 
total  assessed  valuations,  for  alternate  years,  1906  to  1916,  inclusive, 
Table  IV  20 

The  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  property  taxable  for  local  purposes, 
the  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate,  and  the  percentage  which  the  as- 
sessed valuation  of  real  estate  bears  to  the  total  assessed  valuations,  for 
alternate  years,  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  V 23 

Assessed  valuation  of  property  exempt  from  taxation  compared  with  the 
assessed  valuation  of  taxable  real  estate  and  the  total  assessed  valuation 
of  all  property  in  Thornbury  borough  for  1916 26 

Assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  exempt  from  taxation  compared  with 
the  assessed  valuation  of  taxable  real  estate  and  the  total  assessed  valua- 
tion of  all  property  in  Middletown  township  for  1916 27 

The  amounts  of  property  exempt  from  taxation  and  the  percentage  which 
these  bear  to  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  and  the  total  assessed 
valuation  of  all  taxable  property  in  each  district  of  Delaware  county  for 
1916,  Table  VI  28 

County  revenue  receipts  from  real  estate  and  the  percentage  these  bear 
to  the  total  receipts  from  all  taxable  property,  real  and  personal,  from 

1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  VII 31 

Assessed  valuation  of  horses,  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  property, 
the  percentage  which  assessed  valuation  of  horses  bears  to  total  assessed 
valuations,  from  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  VIII 38 

County  revenue  receipts  from  the  tax  on  horses,  and  the  percentage  which 
these  bear  to  the  total  revenue  receipts  from  all  taxables  for  alternate 

years,  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  IX 39 

Assessed  valuation  of  cattle,  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable 
property,  and  the  percentage  which  the  assessed  valuation  of  cattle  bears 
to  the  total  assessed  valuations,  for  alternate  years,  1906  to  1916  inclu- 
sive, Table  X 40 


80  REVENUE  SYSTEM  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY,  PA. 

PAGE 

Revenue  receipts  from  the  taxation  of  cattle,  and  the  percentage  these 
bear  to  the  total  receipts  from  all  taxables,  for  alternate  years,  1906  to 
1916,  inclusive,  Table  XI  41 

The  number  of  horses  assessed,  the  total  assessed  valuation  and  the  av- 
erage assessed  valuation  for  Delaware  County,  and  the  price  per  head  for 
horses  in  the  United  States,  for  alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive, 
Table  XII  42 

The  number  of  cattle  assessed,  the  total  assessed  valuation  and  the  aver- 
age assessed  valuation  for  Delaware  County,  and  the  price  per  head  for 
cattle  in  the  United  States,  for  alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive, 

Table  XIII 43 

The  assessed  valuation  of  omnibuses,  hacks,  cabs,  and  other  vehicles  for 
hire,  alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  XIV 44 

The  assessed  valuation  of  intangible  personalty  and  the  percentage  which 
this  bears  to  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable  property,  alternate 
years  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  XV . 4& 

Revenue  receipts  from  intangible  personalty,  and  the  percentage  these 
bear  to  the  total  receipts  from  all  taxables  for  the  alternate  years  1906 
to  1916  inclusive,  Table  XVI 46 

Schedule  of  assessments  and  classes  of  occupations  taxed 49 

Schedule  of  assessments  required  by  law,  and  the  assessment  bases  fol- 
lowed by  the  various  assessors,  showing  a  lack  of  uniformity  in  basis  for 
the  same  occupations 50 

Assessed  valuation  of  occupations,  and  the  percentage  which  this  bears 
to  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  all  taxable,  for  alternate  years  1906  to 
1916  inclusive,  Table  XVII  51 

Revenue  receipts  from  occupation  tax,  the  total  receipts  from  all  taxable 
property,  and  the  percentage  which  occupation  tax  receipts  bear  to  the 
total  receipts  for  alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  XVIII 52 

Revenue  receipts  from  taxation  of  dogs  for  alternate  years  1906  to  1916 
inclusive,  Table  XIX 56 

Cost  of  collecting  and  other  expenditures  involved  in  taxation  of  dogs —     57 

Percentage  of  tax  burden  borne  by  each  class  of  taxable  property  for 
alternate  years,  covering  the  period  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  XX 60 

The  tax  levy  for  county  and  state  purposes  and  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  poor,  alternate  years  1906  to  1916  inclusive,  Table  XXI 61 

Recapitulation  of  the  tax  collectors'  statement,  1914,  1915  and  1916  in- 
clusive, Table  XXII  _  65 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


f  r 


